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Kathy Austvold greeted us as we arrived, and Pete Wasberg offered our invocation. Guests included visiting Rotarian Gary Orcutt from Wadena and Mark Bring introduced Nate Kunde, Operations Manager at Otter Tail Power and now serving on our Chamber's Board of Directors. Ryan Welle is still taking shirt orders but only through tomorrow's meeting, after which he will submit the order. Zack Stach reported we will be filling back packs at United Way on Tuesday, October 25th. and then delivering them on Thursday, October 27th; each effort will take about an hour. President Ken remarked on the City Council approving the Splash Pad, so we will be able to see our centennial project through to fruition. When it came time for brags and fines, Mary Pettit complimented this writer on the Rounds, Dave Johnson was happy to have finished painting his house the day before, Gary Orcutt brought a welcome from Wadena and Kathy Austvold also made comments which were not audible on Zoom. Pete Wasberg then introduced our program for the day, Jill Casper with Mid Minnesota Federal Credit Union and also a member of the Brainerd Rotary Club. In the latter capacity, she was the co-chair of the 2020 District Conference in Brainerd that had to be cancelled because of the pandemic. Mid Minnesota is coming to Fergus Falls and the Branch Manager will be Jackie Formo. About 11 to 12 years ago, Jill was talking to a teacher who was saying her students did not understand financial matters. That has led to the credit union offering information, seminars and educational opportunities to help improve financial well-being. They will talk to class sizes of 5 to 30 students and training is offered on accounting basics, money management, identify theft, networking, and credit reports. Presentations include how to rent an apartment, how to pay for college, how to get a loan, insurance basics, and an introduction to banking and credit cards. In Brainerd, seniors are required to take the course and it is taught once a week. She noted that one scenario they use is to have students try to put together a budget based on carrying a student loan (the average student loan debt is $45,000) and making a house payment, working off of an assigned credit score. They also do a poverty simulation. Jill said the class also will give students guidance on how to walk into a Rotary meeting. The training appears to be very much needed and well received, with a handout noting one teacher's comments that "students really like your presentation about renting. You have developed an uncanny balance of meaningful content and great delivery." Another teacher remarked "students rave about how the personal finance lessons they learn with Jill from Mid Minnesota Federal Credit Union make them feel much more prepared." |
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