Banks haven’t always been personified favorably, they’re usually portrayed as villains in films like It’s a Wonderful Life and Mary Poppins. But community banks such as Federation Bank dispel that notion with not only their service to local citizens but their community outreach as well. April is community banking month and though Federation Bank isn’t doing anything specifically to celebrate the occasion, they are educating eighth graders on personal finance and income. Federation Bank is sending four representatives to Wellman for this personal finance fair at the YMCA today.

Hanni Hernandez, marketing committee member for Federation Bank, talks about the fair, “It’s a program that Kirkwood Learning Center is sponsoring or putting on and volunteers from the community will help students pick a home to live in.” Hernandez says the eighth grade classes from Washington, Mid-Prairie, and Highland Schools will be involved, “Those kids come and go through a simulated process of what will happen when they grow up and they have to budget their money and somehow figure out how to have enough money from the job that they have picked to actually live in a real life situation, pay their bills, that sort of thing.”

The personal finance fair is one example of the community work Federation Banks does. About community involvement Hernandez said “Gosh I could go on and on.” Hernandez says several Federation employees serve on town committees, and some teach in the schools under the Junior Achievement program.