Junior Achievement and 1st Source Bank announce contribution and matching campaign to provide new educational opportunities for area students
Elkhart, IN – Junior Achievement (JA) is excited to announce
that its innovative financial education programs JA BizTown® and JA
Finance Park® based in Fort Wayne are now available to students in Elkhart
County thanks to a generous $17,000 grant provided by 1st Source Bank.
1st Source Regional President Bill Burton joined 1st Source
Private Banker and JA Board Member Jim Story, in presenting the donation to
Junior Achievement. Burton also announced a 1st Source matching campaign to
assist JA in raising additional funds.
“1st Source Bank is pleased to partner with JA to ensure
that more kids have access to its innovative BizTown and Finance Park
programs,” said Burton. “We invite area businesses and community leaders to
join us in contributing funds so that more kids can have this experience and
one day in the future we can have this programming closer to home.”
To encourage other businesses and community leaders to
assist with this effort, 1st Source Bank will donate $1 to JA for every $2
contributed up to $75,000 in both 2016 and 2017. The funds will be allocated
across seven counties in our region, just as 1st Source’s $17,000 contribution
to JA in Elkhart County was part of a larger $75,000 contribution.
Students from area schools have begun attending Finance Park
and BizTown through the 1st Source grant and additional trips will be scheduled
soon, with funds from the grant also being used for personal finance classes in
area schools.
JA BizTown combines in-class learning with a daylong
visit to a fully interactive, simulated town in Fort Wayne. The program helps
elementary students connect the dots between what they learn in school and the
real world. JA Finance Park brings together in-class learning with an
immersion into the adult world of family budgeting. During a full-day
visit to Fort Wayne, middle and high school students explore options related to
a number of choices they may have when living within their own future family
budget.
Junior Achievement is the world’s oldest and largest
provider of economic education for young people. JA brings caring, trained
adults into the classroom to deliver relevant and engaging lessons on workforce
readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy. Within the Michiana
community, JA will reach over 25,500 students during the current school year.
For more information on how to, visit help empower young people to own their
economic future, visit www.jani.org.
Media Contact: Angie Dvorak, (574) 235-2000
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