The American Bankers Association Foundation has launched its 2024 campaign aimed at enhancing the financial well-being of Americans. The foundation plans to implement this campaign by leveraging the expertise and workforce of thousands of employees from hundreds of banks across the nation, as it did in 2023.
According to a press release from the American Bankers Association (ABA), the 2024 campaign is an extension of a three-year, industry-wide initiative to provide five million Americans with financial education courses. In the previous year, the ABA Foundation managed to reach 1.23 million individuals with assistance from 35,000 bank volunteers hailing from 816 banks.
The ABA press release further reveals that the foundation has rolled out four national initiatives aimed at equipping bank employee volunteers with resources to disseminate their financial knowledge within their local communities. In 2024, these initiatives will be supplemented with new resources and content. The existing programs include Teach Children to Save, Get Smart About Credit, Safe Banking for Seniors, and the "Lights, Camera, Save!" video contest.
The ABA press release also highlights that Teach Children to Save, now in its 27th year of operation, is considered the foundation's flagship program. Through this initiative, bank employee volunteers educate local students from kindergarten through eighth grade about money and financial concepts using classroom presentations, engaging activities, social media platforms and other outreach methods. While April 25 has been designated as "Teach Children to Save Day" by ABA, it encourages volunteers to promote financial awareness among youth throughout the year.
Lindsay Torrico, executive director of ABA Foundation stated: "The ABA Foundation programs offer a meaningful way for bankers to support the communities they serve and make a positive impact. We hope our industry colleagues will join us in participating and help us in our continued efforts to reach millions of Americans with these critical resources to improve their overall financial health."
