Financial Literacy is the ability to understand financial concepts and have the knowledge necessary to make important financial decisions.
In the United States, four in seven Americans are financially illiterate.
Financial literacy plays a significant role in reducing poverty rates and improving overall financial well-being. Equipping individuals with the tools to make financial decisions empowers them to take control of their life.
Lower financial literacy among Americans can exacerbate this country’s widening wealth gap and poverty growth rate. Only four percent of youth living in poverty will break the cycle of poverty and break into the upper-middle class.
Memphis Athletic Ministries (MAM) spent their fall break hosting Banking & Buckets– a camp dedicated to improving students’ basketball skills and engaging in the financial industry.
Keva Letham, Chairman of the MAM Board of Directors, and her husband Brian wanted to share their love of basketball and knowledge of the financial industry with MAM kids.
Over 60 youth from 3rd to 8th grade spent the week exercising both their minds and bodies.
Volunteers from First Horizon were at the forefront of the classroom, coaching students through financial literacy drills.
At the beginning of the week, students were asked to ‘invest’ $25 in the camp. If the participants attended all financial literacy courses, their investment was matched, and they got to take home $50.
This real-life scenario helped solidify what students had been learning all week.
On the other end of the court, former division one basketball players and professional players helped students improve their basketball skills.
At the end of the week, six current Memphis Tiger basketball players (Alex Lomax, Malcolm Dandridge, Keonte Kennedy, Kaodorichi Akobundu-Ehiogu (Kao), and Chandler Lawson) along with a UofM assistant coach attended the camps conclusion ceremony.
Founded in 1998, MAM exists to coach, grow, and lead the youth of Memphis by helping them discover their identity in Christ and their purpose in the community. MAM’s vision is to see identity found, hope restored, and lives changed.
Banking and Buckets is one aspect of the many programs and initiatives MAM has to mentor the youth of Memphis.
If you’d like to learn more about MAM’s programs and how you can get involved, click here.
