The Verizon Foundation has made a grant of $5000 to MPowering Kids to support MPowering Kids’ Technology Initiatives for Academic and Financial Achievement.
The Verizon grant will allow students to participate in individualized personal finance projects focused on teaching students about money, budgeting, investing, financial planning, and philanthropy. The goal of the initiative is to provide financial literacy education to help prevent the students from falling into a cycle of debt and poverty that will limit their future choices. Through this project, students will become empowered to understand concepts that will directly influence their ability to make informed decisions about their own finances. The goal is to make sure that they become part of the solution in their own community by becoming adults who pay into the tax base and save properly for emergencies and retirement.
The Verizon Foundation has a long history of supporting quality educational resources and literacy programs. The foundation focuses on preparing children to be successful; enabling teachers, parents and caregivers to help children learn; and educating adults so they are prepared to achieve their goals and contribute to their communities.
MPowering Kids serves a selected group of students in Westbury with an intense after-school program. Once accepted into the program, students and their families work with MPowering Kids staff and volunteers for nine years. The curriculum and structure of the MPowering Kids program is designed to create a culture of achievement, characterized by high academic and behavioral standards. MPowering Kids teaches a commitment to academic and personal excellence and fosters a love of learning that lasts a lifetime. Students are encouraged to develop their potential and leadership skills, and to give back to others through community service.
MPowering Kids was founded as a nonprofit 501(c)3 in 2001 and has worked with Westbury School District students for the past ten years with great success. By engaging its students in learning, MPowering Kids helps them create a vision of their future that includes higher education and a strong involvement in the community so that they can go on to college, and return home as educated adults and community leaders.
