National CU Youth Week

2003 Celebration Ideas

1. For each "A" grade received for the last grading period, members under age 18 will get to enter their name into a drawing. We have door prizes throughout the week. A local police officer will be on hand to fingerprint and photograph each child and present an ID kit for the parent. We've designed flyers to distribute to local SEG's and stuffers for statements.
2. We are having local 6th grade classes come through our credit union for tours of our facility. We will hold a Youth Member pizza party, where youth members and their parents can come for pizza and get their faces painted, enter our drawings and pick up educational materials. Then they can participate in one of two mini-seminars. At the end of the evening, we will pull everyone back together and have the "Credit Union Game Show" where we hired a local company to come in and turn our office into a game show, asking youth members and their parents questions about the credit union.
3. We will be running paid public service ads on popular teen radio stations and television to help educate teens about important financial issues. Classroom presentations will be held at a local Junior High School and the media will be invited. A "What's Your Goal?" contest will be announced where teens will be asked to complete the following sentence, "in ten years I plan to have achieved the following goal….." Winners will be drawn to receive a $50 Borders gift certificate.
4. We will hold a "Be a Millionaire for a Day" contest. To win, a youth member must guess how many pennies we have put into a jar (or get the closest guess), and they will win a cash prize equaling the dividends earned on $1 million dollars at a 2% APY during a 24-hour period. So, essentially, the winner is a millionaire for a day.
5. We will be inviting our Youth Club members to attend a free movie screening at a local movie theater. We will also be holding a coloring contest and a financial quiz.
6. Our credit union is coordinating with an area high school again this year to have students participate in a weeklong job shadow program. The sophomore students will work in teller, marketing, loan and member service positions and keep a diary and photos of their experiences to be presented at a school assembly.
7. We will provide referral cards for members to refer a family member to join and they will be eligible to win $50 to be deposited into their account. We will also provide referral cards for employees. The employee to refer the highest number of new youth accounts wins a $50 gift certificate to restaurant of their choice.
8. We plan to have a clown in the lobby with cookies, juice boxes and balloons. We'll have "bring in your piggy bank day" where kids can tour the vault and put money in the coin counter. Donations to Children's Miracle Network will be promoted and accepted all week.
9. We are hosting demonstrations of our online technology such as Bill Payer along with a week long offering of educational materials for teachers, students and parents focusing on financial planning and responsibility. Additionally we are passing out work sheets and mood pencils along with Moon Jars to kids opening savings accounts.
10. We've planned a carnival party with midway games, prizes , popcorn & brochures we created. We'll fill our lobby with balloons and pictures of clowns to make the environment festive. Staff will wear clown hats to identify themselves to members and add to the theme. Our prizes will have a financial theme, coin purse key chains, notepads, pens and yo-yos with pictures of money will be given out.
11. We are hosting a quarterly Teen Money Management seminar, sending out a quarterly Teen newsletter. Both will be advertised via postcard, website, newsletter, POP, etc.
12. We are offering free membership to any youth that wants to open a new account (must meet membership requirements.) We will give game tokens for bringing in a good report card. And a free calculator will be given to any youth that deposits $25 or more.
13. We will be conducting tours of the credit union all week. Each new member to sign up during the week will have his or her $5.00 fee paid by the credit union. A drawing for a door prize will take place at the end of the week, with drawings each day for homework passes. We will be giving out balloons for the children and handouts for teens: How to Manage Your Checking Account, How to Buy a Used Car., and The Credit Card Push on Campus.
14. The week before Youth Week, we will be participating in a Financial Aid workshop focusing on reaching out to Hispanic students to encourage education beyond high school, as well as providing assistance to students and parents in filling out financial aid forms. The credit union will have a basic financial education booth, will provide refreshments and will provide speakers for break-out sessions also dealing with basic finances.
15. We will have a jumping balloon in our parking lot. Members will be given hot dogs and sodas, along with promotional items. Piggy banks will be given away for every youth account that is opened during the week.
16. We will offer an opening gift of either a piggy bank or a small toy for new youth accounts. For any youth account deposits of $50 or more we will give away a coin sorter. For children under 12, they can guess how many coins are in the jar, with each branch winner getting 4 tickets to the local zoo. We will also be giving away five $1,000 College scholarship awards. For the branch opening the most youth accounts, the staff will win a pizza lunch.
17. We will have a Youth Week coloring banner in our branches for the children to color. Balloons will be displayed all week. Each of our three branches will hold a Youth Week t-shirt giveaway to children who open or make a deposit of $5 or more to an existing youth account. The employee in each branch who opens the most youth accounts during Youth Week will win an adult t-shirt.
18. We will be using some of the suggested event activities listed on CUNA's Web site, like the estimation jar, good report card reward, special gift for youth deposits during the week, we'll be ordering the Money Matter. quiz, and also have special treats and financial services information for teenagers. We are working with a local high school and the tech school on providing information to area youth.
19. We will be inviting all of our Kids Club and Youth Club members to an area mini-golf and pizza palace. The credit union will be providing pizza, drinks and a game of putt-putt.
20. We host an Education Carnival in each of our three offices. Flyers are taken to the schools inviting kids to join us from 6-7 p.m. for the Carnival. The kids tour each "booth- like" area, featuring savings, checking, VISA/ATM responsibilities, student loans and Googolplex. We have refreshments and door prizes throughout the evening.

Learn more about Youth Week and register for the National Youth Saving Challenge.