Capital One Bank Announces Winners of Inaugural Financial Literacy Challenge

John Mitty Friday, May 3, 2013

Literacy Nassau of Freeport and South Oaks Hospital of Amityville Have Been Named Winners of Inaugural Capital One Bank Financial Literacy Challenge

 

Capital One Bank awards $171,000 in support of financial education and money management best practices on Long Island and announces program renewal call for applications

Melville, New York (May 3, 2013) – Capital One Bank has announced two local nonprofits, Literacy Nassau, Inc. of Freeport and South Oaks Hospital of Amityville, as the nonprofit winners of its Financial Literacy Challenge on Long Island, an awards program designed to encourage money management best practices among kids and adults throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties. The winning nonprofits, selected out of 25 finalists, will each be awarded $15,000 in unrestricted funds. The Financial Literacy Challenge awards also recognize Long Island students, adults and volunteers for outstanding achievement in the competing programs. In addition, as a result of the successful programs developed and the impact throughout the community, Capital One Bank has announced it will renew the program for a second year, accepting 25 applications through June 14 for another round of grants totaling an additional $175,000.

“Money management skills are critical building blocks for the economic success of families and individuals in communities across the country, and that’s why we believe it’s so important to support and encourage financial education programs here in Long Island,” said Andrew Corrado, Long Island market president, Capital One Bank. “We congratulate Literacy Nassau, South Oaks Hospital and all of this year’s Financial Literacy Challenge participants for their efforts to prepare local youth, adults and families for a more secure financial future.”

In July, 25 organizations representing a cross-section of youth, adults and individuals throughout 22 towns in Nassau and Suffolk counties were selected to compete in the first ever Financial Literacy Challenge, with programs running from September 2012 through May 2013.

 

Literacy Nassau, Inc. recruits and trains volunteers who provide tutoring to improve speaking, reading and writing skills among adults who read below a 6th grade level. Through the Literacy Nassau program, several students learned how to bolster their savings, use credit wisely, create household budgets, and handle specific financial issues.

“We are so grateful for the support we have received from Capital One Bank, which helped us to train 27 tutors with the financial literacy skills and techniques they needed to enhance our programming,” said Karen Micciche, executive director, Literacy Nassau. “Over the course of our program, our tutors were able to serve more than 40 students, furthering our mission to promote and foster literacy in Nassau County.”

South Oaks Hospital, a member of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, offers a wide range of comprehensive programs for all ages providing treatments for mental illness and chemical dependency on an inpatient, partial hospitalization and outpatient basis depending upon the distinct needs of the individual. Through the organization’s Career and Educational Counseling Center, South Oaks Hospital provides life skills and career guidance services to students with disabilities in their home school districts along with financial literacy training through one-on-one work experience placements, classroom lessons and hands-on experience in running school-based stores.

“Financial literacy is a key component of the work we do, so we are honored to have our program recognized as a best practice,” said Teri Nugent, director of Vocational and Transitional Services, South Oaks Hospital. “The support from Capital One Bank helped us to better prepare high school students with the financial literacy skills required to become independent, productive members of our community.”

 

Capital One Bank also recognized students, adults and volunteers for their outstanding work promoting smart money management principles through the Financial Literacy Challenge:

 

2013 student winners will each receive a $5,000 scholarship for college:

• Delia B, a seventh grader who participates in the Family and Children’s Association’s Advantage After School program. As a result of her participation in Capital One Bank’s Financial Literacy Challenge, she developed a keen interest in better understanding money management and inspired her parents to open their first bank account since moving to the United States from El Salvador, and to begin planning for Delia’s future scholastic endeavors.
  
  
• Andres C, an eighth grader excelled in the Money Matters program offered by Grenville Baker Boys & Girls Club. His diligence allowed him to significantly improve his scores over the course of the program.  A natural leader, he was elected president of his program team when they were preparing business plans in a store idea competition.

2013 adult winner will receive a $5,000 savings account:

• Hassaan P participated in the financial literacy program offered by the Family and Children’s Association. The skills he learned from the money management workshop introduced by Capital One Bank helped him to balance a check book, make and stick to a budget, and understand the importance of saving. Over the course of the Challenge, Hassaan saved $4,500 dollars.

2013 volunteer winner will receive a $1,000 donation to the nonprofit of her choice:

• Sandy P, a volunteer with Nassau Literacy, helped the organization exceed its goal of reaching 30 students through its MoneyWi$e curriculum. She is solely responsible for almost one-third of Nassau Literacy’s total student population reached by the tutors who attended the MoneyWi$e sessions. Sandy has been with Nassau Literacy for 10 years and volunteers approximately 600 hours per year. 

Participants and winners are selected by the Financial Literacy Challenge selection committee, which comprises Long Island community leaders committed to the region’s economic growth. 2013 selection committee members included:

• Andrew Corrado, Market President for Long Island, Capital One
• Tom Felix, Regional Relationship Manager, Capital One Auto Finance
• Howard Fine, Partner, Gettry Marcus CPS, P.C.
• Hillary Needle, President, Hillary Needle Events, Inc.
• Ted Reich, Director of Finance and Administration, Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman, LLP
• Dr. Wanda Toledo, Principal, Drexel Avenue Elementary School

Application Information for 2013/2014:

The open application period for the 2^nd Annual Financial Literacy Challenge begins today and will run until June 14, 2013. Any 501(c)3, 501(c)4, 501(c)6, public school or government entity that will offer financial education programs to Nassau and Suffolk County residents is eligible to apply. The 25 applicants selected to participate will be notified in July 2013 so programs can be implemented between September 2013 and May 2014, with winners to be announced in mid-May 2014. Visit www.capitalone.com/FLC for more information and the application to enter. 

 

About Capital One

Capital One Financial Corporation, headquartered in McLean, Virginia, is a Fortune 500 company with approximately 1,000 branch locations primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Its subsidiaries, Capital One, N.A. and Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., offer a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients. We apply the same principles of innovation, collaboration and empowerment in our commitment to our communities across the country that we do in our business. We recognize that helping to build strong and healthy communities - good places to work, good places to do business and good places to raise families - benefits us all and we are proud to support this and other community initiatives.

jmitty@longislandyellowpages.com

Appears In: Press Releases

 

 

• Business News
• Education
• Entertainment
• Jobs & Careers
• Local Events
• Local Steals, Deals & More
• Press Releases
• Restaurants & Food
• Sports & Recreation

Columnists John M.   Show all Columnists