I wish I was the smart enough to think of Credit do

I just found out about the coolest organization. Have I mentioned I write for an online news group? So this week, I talked to Chris from Credit Do. Four take away words:

Credit Do is awesome.

Take a peak at my report on this amazing program: (The original was published at Deseret News) 

Seventh-graders in Manhattan are helping to feed their families at a young age.
With a turn to old-fashioned bartering, the high-percentage poverty schools Cornelia Connelly Center and University Neighborhood Middle School participate in Credit Do, a program that exchanges food for community service.

Students from Cornelia Connelly Center help out at the food drive

“It’s just like straight barter, but we do work service,” said Chris Hubschmann, the founder and CEO of Credit Do. “We think of it as doing something in exchange for something we need. It’s taking us back to our ancestors.”

Lower East Side Manhattan has a median income of $30,249 — more than $14,000 below the national median income, according to Zillow.

Ninety-eight to 100 percent of the students are on the lunch assistance program in these two middle schools, Hubschmann said. But Credit Do gives students the opportunity to assist others and their struggling families at the same time.

It starts in the classroom where financial literacy principles are taught in the regular math classes. Students learn earning and budgeting through coursework created by the Council for Economic Education.
The program, Hubschmann said, doesn’t add additional work for the teachers. “We’re just enhancing the curriculum and competency skills they have to have to pass exams,” Hubschmann said.

The bartering comes when students do their Work Service Saturday.
Local grocery stores hold a food drive outside of the store that is run by the students. As customers come into the store, students give them flyers on what the food drive needs.

Five hours of service at the food drive gives students $50 of grocery store credit. Following the service Saturday, the class learns the basics of saving money. Then, they participate in a contest to learn how to shop.

Students shop with their parents at the store where they received the $50 of credit. Receipts are turned in as homework to see evaluate frugality, such as how many servings the food yields.
But the program is about more than feeding families.

Students shop with the earned credit

“Our whole purpose is not only to bring the tools and raise awareness, but also to lay the groundwork in setting the participants up for success,” Hubschmann said.

When a student helps in the food drive, the grocery store matches the $50 of grocery credit with an additional $50 for education savings. The money is put into a savings account at a local credit union. The money isn’t accessible to students until after high school graduation.

After they graduate, the invested money can be used for any educational fees such as trade schools, universities or school supplies.