practice applying for car loans and making housing decisions in controlled environments. The bank’s community investment includes its Community Cares program, an anonymous giving initiative managed entirely by staff.“Our staff looks for needs in the community such as families that are struggling, whether it’s sickness, whether they’ve lost somebody, or even buying glasses for a kid that needs to go to school and their parents can’t afford glasses,” Schifferdecker says. The program operates compound their savings, how a bank account works, how do you balance your check book? Lots of core financial literacy skills and information.” Beyond classroom instruction, the bank engages Reality University, an experiential learning program that simulates real-world financial decisions. “It’s like a mini community, and for a day the students go from station to station walking through the different aspects that they’re going to be facing as adults on managing finances,” George describes. Students 134 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 12, ISSUE 10
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