The DoughMain Financial Literacy Foundation has received a $2,500 donation to continue the organization’s mission to close the financial literacy gap.
The donation helps the Princeton non-profit prepare today’s students and the larger community for a lifetime of financial responsibility by providing personal finance programs to schools and communities, according to Foundation officials.
“This donation helps support the organization and our efforts to develop quality and comprehensive personal finance education,” said Robert Church, Executive Director of DoughMain. “It helps us provide this curriculum at no cost to low income schools and communities.”
The curriculum is called FitKit, and educates on topics that involve income, careers, pay, benefits, deductions, taxes, budgeting banks and banking, savings and investments, credit and insurance, according to Church.
The $2,500 was awarded to the foundation from the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund created by the Cantor Fitzgerald financial service firm.
According to Church, the funds were generated from the 2018 Cantor Fitzgerald Charity Day, a philanthropic event, which is organized to commemorate the 658 Cantor Fitzgerald and 61 Eurobroker employees tragically lost in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.
Church said the Foundation is primarily an all volunteer based organization.
“Aspects of the organization are run by young people who volunteer their time or do internships with us to manage the different aspects of the organization,” he said.
Church said in 2018 alone the organization had more than 7,000 volunteer hours logged.
“Despite being primarily volunteer we have been able to grow our curriculum’s appeal outside of communities in New Jersey. This donation helps us continue to reach states like Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New York and Florida,” he said.
Church said he believes that communities and districts should be aggressive in teaching personal finance to students.
“Out of the 600 school districts in the state about 96 of them report teaching anything related to personal finance. Skills in personal finance are extremely important especially now post 2008,” he said.
Church said charitable organizations apply every year to the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund as well as, the Charity Day.
“They review the applications and then decide on whether they are going to support the organization. 2019 is the first year we were supported by them, which is wonderful,” he said.
For more information about the DoughMain Financial Literacy Foundation, visit dmfinancialliteracy.org.