Press Release, April 29, 2008
Citi and NY Met Aaron Heilman took a fieldtrip to teach William Hallett Elementary School students in Queens the value of saving as part of the American Bankers Association Education Foundation’s twelfth annual Teach Children to Save Day (TCTS). Volunteers make learning fun using real-life scenarios and hands-on experiences to help young people understand how interest makes money grow, how to budget and how to distinguish needs from wants.
“Citi is committed to helping young people learn the facts about money,” explained Eileen Auld, New York State Community Relations Director, Citi. “Teach Children to Save is an integral part of our commitment. Citi’s support of TCTS began in 2000. Since then, over 3,000 Citi volunteers have taught saving skills to more than 98,000 students.”
Later in 2008, Citi and the ABA Education Foundation will expand the TCTS program internationally, to provide financial education in South Africa, Turkey and Mexico.
“We knew that financial illiteracy was a worldwide problem, but we didn’t expect the Teach Children to Save model to translate so easily in other countries,” said Laura Fisher, director of the ABA Education Foundation. “It’s exciting to imagine the global banking industry uniting to Teach Children to Save and we’re grateful for Citi’s leadership and support.”
In 2007, Citi and the Citi Foundation invested nearly $36 million in 65 countries, for a total of almost $121 million to date. Combined, the Citi Foundation and Citi-sponsored programs last year touched the lives of nearly 22 million people worldwide.