Operation HOPE Atlanta teamed up with SunTrust and Atlanta City Council Member Kwanza Hall last week to deploy over 100 volunteers throughout Atlanta to teach our Banking on Our Future <http://www.operationhope.org/index.cfm/act/program/pid/1> financial literacy workshops to every student in the councilman’s district.
The program <http://blog.operationhope.org/2011/05/atlanta-youth-financial-literacy-day/> , co-sponsored by the Atlanta City Council & Operation HOPE, Inc., brought together Fortune 500 CEO’s, Elected Officials, Grammy Award Winners, and community leaders to work together to empower local youth.
More than a 1000 students participated in the district-wide workshops, taught at John Hope-Hill Elementary, In town Academy and Centennial Place Elementary by volunteers from SunTrust <http://www.suntrust.com/> , INVESCO <http://www.invesco.com/> , Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority <http://www.aka1908.com/> ,Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity <http://www.alpha-phi-alpha.com/> , East West Bank <http://www.eastwestbank.com/> , AT&T <http://www.att.com/gen/landing-pages?pid=3309> , R.E.A.L. Men Read <http://www.apsrealmenread.com/> , Atlanta Urban League of Young Professionals <http://www.aulyp.net/> and 100 Black Men of Atlanta <http://www.100blackmen-atlanta.org/> .
At Centennial Place Elementary, SunTrust Atlanta Region President and CEO Jenner Wood taught local 4th graders the importance of saving and growing their money. Wood’s participation in the day-long event highlights SunTrust’s commitment to financial education and supporting ourlocal communities.
James Bailey, our Market Vice President in Atlanta, described the day-long event as a powerful community-wide effort that brought people from across Atlanta together for a singular goal.
What an amazing day in Atlanta! Every segment of the community came together to make this powerful day happen. They say the more you give the more you get, and for every volunteer that invested their time today, the gift was truly the smile on each and every child’s face we encountered; lives were changed today, HOPE restored, we cannot thank the community enough. Onward and with HOPE.
Operation HOPE would like to thank Atlanta Public Schools, Einstein’s Bagels, Dr. Jay Tribby, APS REAL Men READ program and Ms. Kelli Bacote-Boone, Jack Markwalter, the Senior Managing Director and CEO of INVESCO/Atlantic Trust Bank, and his amazing team of volunteers and their associates, particularly SunTrust Division President Jenner Wood and Vice President of Community Affairs Lynette Bel. We are also grateful for the support of the Atlanta Urban League Young Professionals, the TEO Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Grammy Award winning producer singer and songwriter Sam Collier, EAST-WEST Bank, AT&T, 100 Black Men of Atlanta, the wonderful faculty and staff, and most importantly the students who made it abundantly clear why HOPE continues to do the work that we do.
Check out some photos of last week's event below. Visit our Facebook page <http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150179027833509.308554.11467428508&l=7b80f4980e> to browse the complete gallery.