$6,000 Donation to the Hispanic Heritage Organization

$50,000 Donation to the Roger Baldwin Foundation of the ACLU

$25,000 Donation to POWER

$3,000 Donation to Local Choir and St. Mary Parish

$10,000 Donation to the Hispanic Heritage Organization

IPA Charities Has Contributed $2,500 to the Chicago Foundation for Women.

Special Olympics

Martin Luther King Dinner

Red Cross

Hispanic Heritage

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center

Columbine Memorial

Operation Hope

Operation HOPE’s Banking On Our Future (BOOF) Program

International Profit Associates Employee Volunteers For Operation Hope

International Profit Associates (IPA-IBA) employee, Marcy Soskin, recently spoke with and taught a group of students gathered from local schools as part of Operation HOPE’s Banking On Our Future (BOOF) program.

The program provides financial education for students ages 9-18 at no cost to school districts. Soskin, along with 22 other International Profit Associates employees, are currently engaged in a volunteer process which involves furthering students’ financial educations. IPA volunteers will be instructing Lake County youth for one hour, four times per month.

"It was one of my most rewarding experiences," said Soskin. "I never realized that children were not taught the very basics of banking and budgeting in school. They were unaware of services banks offer, how to earn interest or even how to calculate personal budgets. I taught them how to understand a paycheck, how to ensure the correct amount of taxes were deducted and how to account for insurance costs. I only wish I had more time to teach them."

The BOOF program consists of four modules: (1) Basics of Banking and Financial Services; (2) Checking and Savings Accounts; (3) The Power of Credit; and (4) Basic Investments. Soskin, along with her fellow Operation HOPE Corp. volunteers, are in training to break down their knowledge of banking and credit into terms youth can understand and utilize. During the next few months, the volunteers will continue to meet with Operation HOPE and Bill Robinson, the program manager and trainer for the Chicago metro area.

Operation HOPE, Inc. (OHI) is a non-profit, public benefit organization. OHI was founded immediately following the civil conflict that took place in Los Angeles April 19, 1992. One of OHI’s goals is to serve as a bridge between mainstream and minority communities by promoting the development of inner-city and under-served communities. Through numerous public/private partnerships and strategic alliances, OHI has developed various programs like BOOF which seek to connect the minority community with mainstream, private sector resources. For more information please visit www.operationhope.org.