Edgar Orozco, Banking Services Specialist and Marisa Alvarado, Senior Customer Service Representative answer questions from students about check fraud in Mr. Guillen’s class at Franklin Elementary.

The interest in having Montecito Bank & Trust volunteers visit local schools has grown substantially and employees have once again rallied to meet the requests. This year 45 bank volunteers will be teaching 1900 local students at 22 schools from grades K through 12 located throughout Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. Due to Santa Barbara city school district’s mandatory testing schedule conflicting with the American Bankers Association’s national Teach Children to Save Day, Montecito Bank & Trust worked with Santa Barbara County to visit schools today and will be visiting Ventura County Schools on Wednesday, April 10.

Janet A. Garufis, president and chief executive officer said, “Studies show that while schools do teach many important life skills, like driving a car, our children aren’t learning the skills they need to make smart financial decisions as adults. Montecito Bank & Trust associates are in our local schools today to help fill that gap and prepare future customers for financial success. This is more critical today than ever. I am so proud of our associates for their hard work in preparing for today. There will be wonderful stories to share in the bank, and for our associates who visited their own child’s classroom today is especially memorable. Our plans for financial education support have grown into a greater effort as schools reach out to us for our expertise in delivering financial education. As the number of requests increase, so does our outreach. This is just another example of how Montecito Bank & Trust connects with our local communities.”

Twenty-two different schools received a visit from Montecito Bank & Trust including: Adams Elementary, Adelante Charter School, A-OK after-school program at Cleveland, Harding and McKinley Elementary Schools, Ellwood School, Franklin Elementary, Hollister School, Kellogg Elementary, La Colina Junior high, La Cumbre Junior High, La Patera Elementary School, Monroe, Montalvo Elementary in Ventura, Mountain View School, Notre Dame School, Santa Barbara Community Academy, Santa Barbara Junior High, Santa Barbara High School, Sunset Elementary & Middle School in Oak View, and Washington Elementary.

The goals of the day included teaching children the importance of saving, how to plan for their purchases, determining needs and wants, and how to make their money grow. Older children learned about the compounding of interest, budgeting for things like college and buying a car, and some credit card basics.

The following tips were also offered to parents to make every day “Savings Day.”

Help kids open up their own bank savings account and make deposits regularly.

Make going to the bank fun.

Talk to your child about the family budget.

National Teach Children to Save Day, which began in 1997, is part of the American Bankers Association Education Foundation’s Teach Children to Save Program, committed to developing and providing education programs that lead to financial literacy. Each year thousands of bankers across the country trade in their balance sheets for blackboards to help fill the need for financial education in schools. To date, the program has reached over 5 million students. Montecito Bank & Trust is working hard to help achieve this worthy goal.

Montecito Bank & Trust, an S Corporation, is a locally owned community bank founded in 1975, and proudly celebrating its 38th anniversary. It is known for its ongoing support of the community through unique giving programs such as Community Dividends® and Anniversary GrantsSM. The bank has branch offices in Santa Barbara, Goleta, Solvang, Montecito, Carpinteria, Ventura and Westlake Village. We offer a variety of competitive deposit and lending solutions for businesses and consumers including consumer loans, business loans and lines of credit, SBA loans, credit cards, merchant services, online and mobile banking, and cash management. Our Wealth Management Division, located in Montecito, Solvang and Ventura, provides full investment management as well as trust and estate services for all of the bank’s branch office markets.

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