HAWTHORNE, CA -�Over 30 teens from the South Bay and surrounding areas attended the 2015
Bite of Reality financial workshop, a simulated reality game that empowers them to learn critical money management skills in a fun and interactive way. RMJ Foundation sponsors the workshop each year at no cost to teens.
Bite of Reality was co-hosted by SkyOne Federal Credit Union, South Bay Credit Union, and Xceed Financial Credit Union, and staff from each of the credit unions volunteered to ensure a smooth workshop for the teens.
They tested the teens abilities to make sound, financial decisions based on real-life scenarios. Each participant was assigned a fictional "profile" with their occupation, salary, spouse and family, student loans and credit card debt, and medical insurance payments. From there, they visited a variety of table-top stations to "purchase" housing, transportation, food and clothing, daycare, and other life necessities from the "merchants." At the center of the simulated experience was the "credit union" to help the teens make debt, savings, and other financial decisions.
The teens also faced unexpected expenses and windfalls. "I liked the fickle finger of fate, where someone would randomly sneak up on you and say you had to pay for a flat tire or something," said Tiahna Bardmore, a participating teen. "I had just paid off my credit card debt, and that showed me how something totally out of my control could happen, setting me back again."
SkyOne CEO, Eileen Rivera, shared her thoughts on the event. "The level of detail our volunteers provided was worthy of a reality TV show in itself," she said. "They created some great real-world financial scenarios that forced the teens to sharpen their budgeting and money management skills areas not typically covered in traditional classroom curriculums."
Throughout the event, friendships were developed, lessons were learned, and the feedback from the participating teens was overwhelmingly positive. "I really like this program and would definitely bring my whole group of friends next year!" said Tiahna.
For more information about SkyOne Federal Credit Union, visit
www.SkyOne.org. For information about Bite of Reality, visit
www.rmjfoundation.org.
About SkyOne Federal Credit Union
SkyOne Federal Credit Union serves the air transportation industry and has nearly 35,000 members and $430 million in assets. Headquartered in Hawthorne, California, SkyOne offers a full range of financial products including savings, checking, consumer loans, home loans and investment services. Additional information is available at
www.SkyOne.org.
About South Bay Credit Union
Established in 1953, South Bay Credit Union is a member-owned not-for-profit financial cooperative proudly serving anyone who lives, regularly works, attends school or worships in the area known as South Bay in Los Angeles County, California with more than 7,000 members and more than $87 million in assets. As a financial cooperative, South Bay Credit Union brings member-owners together, pooling their financial resources to meet the individual needs of the membership, while providing enough capital to run a strong and efficient operation. South Bay Credit Union is headquartered in Redondo Beach, California and has a branch service center in Torrance. South Bay Credit Unions vision is to build lifelong financial relationships. Visit South Bay Credit Unions website at
www.sbcu.org for more information.
About Xceed Financial Credit Union
Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., Xceed Financial (
www.xfcu.org) is a full-service, federally chartered workplace credit union dedicated to meeting the needs of businesses and their employees throughout the United States. Founded more than 50 years ago, Xceed Financial has over $1.2 billion in assets under management, nearly 65,000 members, and operates 12 Financial Centers in five states. The Credit Union partners with more than 300 employers also called "select employer groups" or SEGs to deliver personal banking and financial education to working adults and their families. It holds a four-star, excellent rating from BauerFinancial.
HAWTHORNE, CA -�Over 30 teens from the South Bay and surrounding areas attended the 2015 Bite of Reality financial workshop, a simulated reality game that empowers them to learn critical money management skills in a fun and interactive way. RMJ Foundation sponsors the workshop each year at no cost to teens.
Bite of Reality was co-hosted by SkyOne Federal Credit Union, South Bay Credit Union, and Xceed Financial Credit Union, and staff from each of the credit unions volunteered to ensure a smooth workshop for the teens.
They tested the teens abilities to make sound, financial decisions based on real-life scenarios. Each participant was assigned a fictional "profile" with their occupation, salary, spouse and family, student loans and credit card debt, and medical insurance payments. From there, they visited a variety of table-top stations to "purchase" housing, transportation, food and clothing, daycare, and other life necessities from the "merchants." At the center of the simulated experience was the "credit union" to help the teens make debt, savings, and other financial decisions.
The teens also faced unexpected expenses and windfalls. "I liked the fickle finger of fate, where someone would randomly sneak up on you and say you had to pay for a flat tire or something," said Tiahna Bardmore, a participating teen. "I had just paid off my credit card debt, and that showed me how something totally out of my control could happen, setting me back again."
SkyOne CEO, Eileen Rivera, shared her thoughts on the event. "The level of detail our volunteers provided was worthy of a reality TV show in itself," she said. "They created some great real-world financial scenarios that forced the teens to sharpen their budgeting and money management skills areas not typically covered in traditional classroom curriculums."
Throughout the event, friendships were developed, lessons were learned, and the feedback from the participating teens was overwhelmingly positive. "I really like this program and would definitely bring my whole group of friends next year!" said Tiahna.
For more information about SkyOne Federal Credit Union, visit www.SkyOne.org. For information about Bite of Reality, visit www.rmjfoundation.org.
About SkyOne Federal Credit Union
SkyOne Federal Credit Union serves the air transportation industry and has nearly 35,000 members and $430 million in assets. Headquartered in Hawthorne, California, SkyOne offers a full range of financial products including savings, checking, consumer loans, home loans and investment services. Additional information is available at www.SkyOne.org.
About South Bay Credit Union
Established in 1953, South Bay Credit Union is a member-owned not-for-profit financial cooperative proudly serving anyone who lives, regularly works, attends school or worships in the area known as South Bay in Los Angeles County, California with more than 7,000 members and more than $87 million in assets. As a financial cooperative, South Bay Credit Union brings member-owners together, pooling their financial resources to meet the individual needs of the membership, while providing enough capital to run a strong and efficient operation. South Bay Credit Union is headquartered in Redondo Beach, California and has a branch service center in Torrance. South Bay Credit Unions vision is to build lifelong financial relationships. Visit South Bay Credit Unions website at www.sbcu.org for more information.
About Xceed Financial Credit Union
Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., Xceed Financial (www.xfcu.org) is a full-service, federally chartered workplace credit union dedicated to meeting the needs of businesses and their employees throughout the United States. Founded more than 50 years ago, Xceed Financial has over $1.2 billion in assets under management, nearly 65,000 members, and operates 12 Financial Centers in five states. The Credit Union partners with more than 300 employers also called "select employer groups" or SEGs to deliver personal banking and financial education to working adults and their families. It holds a four-star, excellent rating from BauerFinancial.