The SVG Police Co-operative Credit Union has done it again! Smiles of joy and satisfaction beamed from the faces of children and their parents/guardians on Friday, December 30, 2016, when the PCCU awarded one hundred and twenty-nine (129) of its Junior Savers with an Amazon Fire Tablet each for successfully completing the Police Credit Union Weekly Junior Savers Challenge.
This was the third award ceremony of that kind for the PCCU, and it was held at the Credit Union’s newly acquired corporate headquarters in the former Voyager Building on Bay Street.
In addressing the event, Manager of the PCCU, Mrs Seymonde Mulcaire congratulated the successful Junior Savers and their parents for using the ‘Challenge’ as a medium for saving to have monies readily available for the most difficult time of any year ‘January’.
She proudly lamented that the Junior Savers Challenge is synonymous only to the Police Credit Union as no other Credit Union in SVG or the region has such a programme, and thanked the Board for approving the initiate.
The PCCU’s manager also gave an overview of the ‘Challenge’. She stated that the Challenge which was in its third year commenced on January 2, 2016, with 202 Junior Savers. In explaining the rules of the ‘Challenge’, Mrs Mulcaire stated that it is opened to children ages 0-14 and each child has to save one dollar ($1.00) more each week for fifty-two (52) weeks.
The manager further explained that the Junior Savers were not allowed to pay in advance or late because it meant that the child would have automatically forfeited the Challenge; and at the end of the fifty-two weeks, each child would have saved no less than thirteen hundred and seventy-eight dollars ($ 1378.00) individually.
President of the PCCU Bro. Junior Simmons, also addressed the ceremony. He thanked the parents/guardians of the Junior Savers for saving with the PCCU and congratulated those who endured to the end of the Challenge.
Bro. Simmons told the children that the monies they collect today could chart their future tomorrow. He emphasised to the Junior Savers that by starting a savings plan now, no matter how small can greatly assist them in achieving their personal goals in the future; be it – an education, property, a car and taking care of their health. He opined that the PCCU is the Credit Union where member’ monies are safe and their futures secured, especially the Junior Savers.
Bro. Simmons informed the audience that the ‘Challenge’ had received excellent reviews from persons who have heard about it with some wishing that their organisations had a similar programme.
He used the analogy of a farmer planting a seed and nurturing it until it matured and bore fruit and said that is what the PCCU is doing by taking especial care of its Junior Savers by providing them with the needed tools that can produce much fruit in their future lives.
Bro. Simmons also used the opportunity to thank PCCU Shareholders, his fellow directors, committee members, management and staff and other volunteers for their hard work and dedication to the PCCU and its member and in ensuring that the PCCU remains viable.
The keynote address was delivered by Mr Petrus Gumbs, Head of Information Technology at the St. Martins Secondary School and Founder of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM SVG).
Speaking on the topic “Being a good digital citizen” Gumbs commended the parents and junior savers for the choosing to save rather than spending their monies on other things which may not have been important.
He defined a digital citizen as ‘someone who uses the internet effectively, efficiently, with discipline and responsibility’. Gumbs told the children that in this technologically saturated world, there are competing forces between someone’s real life and what is referred to as a ‘digital life’.
He stated that everyone who creates a profile on Facebook, Instagram or any of the other social media sites has created a digital life and if that digital life is not managed properly, it can damage or destroy your real life and even hurt your family or friends.
Using statistics to strengthen his point, Gumbs told the audience that seven (7) billion people uses snap chat, 1.5 million uses Facebook, 400 million uses Instagram while 320 million uses Twitter on a daily basis, and if one of them uploads an inappropriate or lewd photograph on one these sites, it can damage their reputation instantly and affect them in the future when they are seeking job and other opportunities to develop their lives.
Gumbs told the junior savers that they are very fortunate to be receiving the tablets because not every parent could afford purchasing one for their child. He showed a video of a ten (10) year girl named Makaila who is the founder and owner of a multi-million dollar business.
Makaila according to Gumbs was stung by a swarm of bees when she was just four (4) years old, and she with the assistance of her parents used the internet and her ‘smart’ device (tablet/PC) to conduct research about bees.
He said, because of her active use of her smart device, she was successful in starting up a company that make juices from the honey which comes from bees – the name of the company is Bee- Sweet Lemonade.
He encourages the junior savers to emulate Makaila by using their tablets to do similar and even more breathtaking and meaningful things with their young lives.
The Police Credit Union Weekly Junior Savers Challenge began in 2014 and is in its fourth year. In 2014, 2015 and 2016, thirty-eight (38), eighty-nine (98) and one hundred and twenty-nine (129) Junior Savers were awarded tablets. Registration for 2017 began on January 3, 2017, and closed on January 7, 2017.
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