Banks Gain CRA Recognition while Helping Teens Make the Right Education Choices

Seattle, WA (PRWEB) July 19, 2007 -- The CHOICES Education Group, a Seattle-based social enterprise, announced today that banks are engaging its CHOICES dropout prevention workshop as a CRA qualified activity, further helping them meet their community involvement goals and gain recognition as good corporate citizens.

The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), enacted by Congress in 1977, was passed into law to encourage depository institutions (such as commercial banks) to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they operate, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. The CRA Act requires that each depository institution's record in helping meet the credit needs of its entire community be evaluated periodically. That record is taken into account in considering an institution's application for deposit facilities.

CHOICES largest business client, Bank of America, has determined that CHOICES is a CRA-qualified activity for their employee volunteer activities related to CHOICES. They report CHOICES as a Community Development Service when it is delivered in schools that have a majority of students who are Economically Disadvantaged (receive free- or reduced-cost school meals).

"Every school day 7,000 students become dropouts. We're very pleased that through CRA qualification, CHOICES is a win-win for businesses and students alike," said Leo Muller, Executive Director of the national not-for-profit. "We're very appreciative of Bank of America's tremendous financial and volunteer support and invite other banks to follow suit."

CHOICES is an interactive decision-making workshop that empowers teens to achieve academic success in pursuit of their career and life aspirations. In two hour-long sessions, business and community volunteers take students through real-world exercises on academic self-discipline, time and money management and goal setting.

Through their social enterprise business model, the CHOICES Education Group licenses CHOICES to businesses, chambers of commerce and service clubs for an annual program fee based on the number of classes served, and then provides the training, materials and support needed to implement and manage the program in local communities. CHOICES is a powerful tool for building and sustaining effective business-education partnerships in local communities. Volunteers from the business community facilitate the program, bringing their real-life experiences right into the classroom and serving as positive adult role models for the students. Major business partners include Nordstrom, Bank of America, Russell Investment Group and Verizon.

About The CHOICES Education Group

The CHOICES Education Group is an independent 501c (3) nonprofit social enterprise started in 1985 with initial funding from Pacific Northwest Bell (now Qwest Communications). CHOICES has been delivered to more than 5 million students since 1985.The CHOICES workshop is currently being delivered to approximately 200,000 students per year in 47 states in the U.S., four provinces in Canada and one state in Australia. More information about CHOICES is available at www.choices.org or by calling 1-888-CHOICES (1-888-246-4237).

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