Hello Friends of SAVE. We have been busy!

Introducing: Elizabeth Hansen: We are working with Elizabeth to develop a new Economics Program called “A Bridge to the Future” The first part in this series will be “How Money Works” Elizabeth is writing and testing the curriculum currently at a local Learning Program. Elizabeth also helped David Spring develop our Kids Biz Club Program. Below is an image of one of the lessons in our new economics course.

When completed our new program, “How Money Works” will be a series of 1–2-hour lessons that can be taught in trimesters, by our instructors or can be obtained from us in print form for a fee for others to teach.

We are also working with Jennifer Gaer, the volunteer Program Coordinator of Bellingham School District, to reestablish the Kids Biz Club program in two of their after-school programs this fall. Keep watching our newsletter for where we will be teaching this fall. We were pleased to hear that our program before Covid got “rave reviews” at Cordata, and they want us back. Jennifer will also help us reach out to the PTA associations in the district to expand our program in 2025. Jennifer has offered to help us introduce our new program “Money Works” to Principals and Curriculum advisors when it is ready for print.

We need your help!

We will need at least two new teachers this fall, one Business Teacher and one Tech Teacher. If you know someone who has a couple of afternoons a week starting this fall and would like to teach, send them our way. These will both be paid positions. If you know someone who just likes working with kids, we will also need two mentors to help with the classes.

We will be reestablishing both a programming and marketing committee this year. We are looking for 4-5 individuals for each committee from our community. Just drop us an email if you want to get involved. See Join our Team on our website for more information.

Introducing our New Board Officers:

Bill Knutzen President, David Spring Vice President, Kris Halterman, Secretary, Lorraine Newman, Treasurer

Website Remodel: Check out our website savenw.org. We have re-vamped and added new content. Hope you like our video interviews.

Last but not least -- please donate to help support us at savenw.org.

Below is an image of one of the pages from our How Money Works course:

Many people say that they donate to charitable causes to “give back” for being successful in business or their life.  We assume that their success was due to luck or rich parents.  Yet if you look at their circumstances more closely, it probably was because of hard work, ethical principles and choosing an education that prepared them for success.

We give because we can.  Many causes and many people need our help.  We are privileged to be able to pick and choose which endeavors match our philosophies of life.  We choose to give locally to organizations that serve where we live.  It is not because we dislike the big national charities.  It is because we can see where the money and time is going and the good that it is doing.  A dollar given locally will probably be spent locally for goods or services, which means that it is going to benefit the local economy as well as benefit the charity.

We support organizations which cater to our young people.  The better the start a child can get through exposure to ideas, education and cooperation the better chances they have to make a good life for themselves. 

We support organizations which cater to adults who find themselves on the fringes of society.  If we can provide an environment for mental and physical wellness to happen, then education and skills have a chance to be shared as well.  To learn more about SAVE’s business education courses for organizations like the Lighthouse Mission, below are some short videos about the need for this program:

SAVE Interview with Hans Erchinger-Davis

This is our interview with Hans Erchinger-Davis, the Director of the Lighthouse Mission regarding the importance of SAVE’s Economic Education program.

 

 SAVE Interview with Bridget Reeves

This is our interview with Bridget Reeves, the Program Director of the Lighthouse Mission, regarding the importance of SAVE’s Economic Education program.

 

 SAVE Interview with Jennifer Sefzik

This is our interview with Jennifer Sefzik, a Whatcom County community leader, regarding the importance of SAVE’s Economic Education program.

 

 Finally, we support local food drives simply because no one in our community should go hungry.

We don’t give for recognition. Sometimes we do not want the recognition because we fear our mailboxes will explode with more requests, but mainly it is because we understand that charitable help comes from people working together, not just a sole provider.  We know that if the cause is important and matches our interests, then we will find them and combine our efforts with others in our community to help.

We each have our own needs, interests and life philosophies.  We are grateful to be in the position to have the ability to share some of our wealth (time or treasure) to support local organizations. We understand that more than anything the ability to give back (no matter the size) is the true measure of success in being a member of a community.

Sometimes you must look around to see who is fulfilling your community’s needs. 

Sometimes you just need to open your eyes and they are right in front of you.

Wishing you all the feeling of success!

~Dave Courtney, SAVE Board Member, retired