SIFE students use grant to teach importance of saving

February 12, 2007

The Georgia Southern University Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) team has been awarded a $1,000 grant from HSBC Global Education Trust. The grant will fund a project to educate women who have experienced domestic violence about the benefit of saving early for retirement.

‘Student members of the SIFE team will be working with representatives from BB&T in Statesboro to educate a group from Safe Haven, a shelter for battered women, about the benefits of saving early for retirement,” said assistant professor John King. King and assistant professor Amanda King, are faculty members in the School of Economic Development at Georgia Southern and serve as faculty advisors to SIFE.

‘As part of the project, SIFE will match each woman’s monthly contributions (up to $25 per month) to a systematic saver CD at BB&T for one year,” said John King. ‘At the end of the year, the money in the CD will be used to open an individual retirement account for each participant.”

While the SIFE chapter has funds to initiate this project, it welcomes support from individuals or corporations that may be interested in providing financial assistance to help carry out this year-long effort. If you would like to help with the SIFE project, contact John King at jking@georgiasouthern.edu or at 912-681-0388 or Amanda King at aking@georgiasouthern.edu or at 912-681-0535 for more information.

Students In Free Enterprise is an international, non-profit organization founded in 1975 to provide college and university students the best opportunity to make a difference and to develop leadership, teamwork and communication skills through learning, practicing and teaching the principles of free enterprise. SIFE teams conduct educational outreach projects that help individuals in their community improve their quality of life and standard of living.

SIFE teams are mentored by faculty advisors who are named Sam M. Walton Free Enterprise Fellows in honor of the late Wal-Mart founder.