Helton of PF Boys & Girls Club wins scholarship

Money awarded for successful participation in financial literacy curriculum Amanda Helton of the Pigeon Forge Branch of the Boys & Girls Club of the Smoky Mountains was recently awarded a $2,000 college scholarship from Charles Schwab Foundation. Helton was selected because of her successful completion of the Money Matters: Make it CountSM program and the ways she is incorporating the program information into her daily life and applying it to achieve short and long-term goals. Money Matters was created by Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) and Charles Schwab Foundation to promote financial literacy among teens from underserved communities. “In a world becoming more financially complex, education about money management, particularly for youth, is vital to our nation’s future,” said Carrie Schwab Pomerantz, president of Charles Schwab Foundation. “Too many young people heading to college and entering the workforce today don’t have an understanding of the most basic money management practices and skills to become financially successful adults.” A recent survey of teens conducted by Charles Schwab Foundation and BGCA reveals that while teens clearly know how to spend money, they have an uncertain grasp of the implications of their spending habits: • Fewer than half (41 percent) know how to balance a checkbook • Fewer than half (48 percent) know how to budget money • Nearly a third (31 percent) have accumulated debt, owing money to a person or company • Forty-six percent of teens who owe money are concerned about paying it back “Through the Money Matters program and these scholarships, we hope to help today’s teens become financially savvy adults who can help reverse the course of poor savings and debt management habits in the United States,” said Schwab Pomerantz. “In fact, we’ve already seen that the program is working; teens who have gone through Money Matters demonstrate increased awareness and understanding of the importance of making good financial choices.” Helton, who is one of 20 teens to receive this scholarship from the Charles Schwab Foundation, intends to use the scholarship to pursue a degree at Warren Wilson College. She will graduate from Pigeon Forge High School in May 2007. “Since implementing the Money Matters program, our Club members are becoming skilled in a number of areas including creating a budget, using a checking account, saving for college, and the basics of managing debt,” said Mark Ross, Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club of the Smoky Mountains. “We are pleased that our Club members are seeing the importance of learning how to handle their money responsibly, and further hope that through this program, we can start to change these statistics.” The Money Matters program is available to all teen Clubs and helps members enhance their financial skills through a variety of components, including a Teen Personal Finance Guide and the Money Matters Web site – a secure site for teens. Money Matters also features the Schwab Employee Volunteer Program, which allows Schwab employees to share their financial expertise with teenage Club members and their families. Last year, Eddie Rivera, also from the Pigeon Forge Branch, was another recipient of this scholarship. To date, approximately 760 Boys & Girls Club locations nationwide have adopted Money Matters, and 37,000 teens have completed the program.