More than 3,100 High School Students Got a Bite of Reality from Redwood Credit Union on October 14

More than 3,100 High School Students Got a Bite of Reality from Redwood Credit Union on October 14

Santa Rosa, CA – Many financial institutions were closed for the federal holiday on October 14, but Redwood Credit Union (RCU) was closed for a different reason: to send all 700 of its employees out to teach practical financial skills to more than 3,100 high school students across three North Bay counties.

The program, Bite of Reality, has been presented by RCU to local high school students since 2013, but never at such large scale. On this one impactful day, RCU sent its entire workforce to 15 schools in Sonoma, Marin, and Napa counties. (See Addendum below for Sonoma County schools.)

“We’ve been thrilled to receive many positive responses from the community about this event,” said Brett Martinez, RCU President and CEO. “Money management is an essential life skill for young people to learn, but because it’s not a graduation requirement, financial education differs greatly between schools. The Bite of Reality program helps fill in gaps. It also offers an opportunity to show how credit unions care and are here to support our communities now and into the future.”

Elected officials who attended the event include Congressman Mike Thompson in Napa, and Congressman Jared Huffman and State Senator Mike McGuire in San Rafael.

Participants in Bite of Reality received a fictional occupation, salary, spouse and family, student-loan debt, credit card debt, and medical insurance payments. Then they visited various table-top stations to “purchase” housing, transportation, food, clothing, household necessities, day care, and other essentials. The interactive program also included a credit union station to help with financial needs if students overspent.

One student participant had to say about the experience: “I like how we had to pay off our credit and how the credit union helped throughout the process. It was interesting and I think every high school should do it.”

For more information about the Bite of Reality program, visit RCU’s website.

About Redwood Credit Union

Founded in 1950, Redwood Credit Union is a full-service financial institution providing personal and business banking to consumers and businesses in the North Bay and San Francisco. RCU offers complete financial services including checking and savings accounts, auto and home loans, credit cards, online and mobile banking, business services, commercial and SBA lending, and more. Wealth management and investment services are available through CUSO Financial Services L.P., and through RCU Services Group (RCU’s wholly owned subsidiary), insurance and auto-purchasing services are also available. RCU has over $4.7 billion in assets and serves more than 344,000 members with full-service branches from San Francisco to Ukiah, plus more than 30,000 fee-free network ATMs nationwide. For more information, call 1 (800) 479-7928, visit redwoodcu.org, or follow RCU on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for news and updates.

Addendum

Participating Sonoma County High Schools

• Cloverdale High School
• Elsie Allen High School
• Maria Carrillo High School
• North Met Academy
• Piner High School
• Ridgway High School
• Sonoma Valley High School
• Windsor High