Real Solutions - A National Credit Union Foundation Program

The New Jersey Credit Union League and the New Jersey Credit Union Foundation are working to bring Financial Reality Fairs to high schools throughout New Jersey by leveraging existing credit union relationships with the schools. To help fund the initiative, the New Jersey Credit Union Foundation received a grant last year from the National Credit Union Foundation (NCUF) and REAL Solutions program. A Reality Fair is an interactive financial literacy tool for high school students.

New Jersey credit unions provided Reality Fairs for six high schools throughout New Jersey and have reached approximately 825 students. The credit unions actually completed seven fairs – one high school was so impressed by their first Reality Fair, they wanted to do another one so that their entire freshman class attended the fair. Each school and set of teachers that the New Jersey Credit Union Foundation worked with explained that they now wanted to include the Reality Fair as part of their personal finance curriculum because it is a great way to incorporate what was being taught in class with hands-on experience.

“Through REAL Solutions, we are looking to offer more Reality Fairs in New Jersey and around the country,” said Lois Kitsch, NCUF’s National REAL Solutions Program Director. “We hope more credit unions and leagues use this effective financial literacy tool to make a positive impact in the lives of high school students in their community.”

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