The Bottom Line
Small business is important to Central Oregon, and to Mid Oregon. Find tips and resources for business, and information about Mid Oregon’s commercial services and business members.
2015 Adopt-a-Bear Effort Raises $2,034
2015 Adopt-a-Bear Effort Raises $2,034 for Healthy Beginnings
The 2015 Adopt-a-Bear promotion at Mid Oregon was very successful, thanks for the staff and volunteers of Mid Oregon and Healthy Beginnings! Over $2,000 was raised through donations in the branches and at our Free Shred Day on Saturday, April 18.
Members were especially generous at our Olney ($1,032.02) and Redmond ($680.50) locations! The total of $2,034.68 will will go a long way in helping Healthy Beginnings with their free screening clinics to families in Central Oregon.
Adopt-a-Bear
Since 2004 Mid Oregon has supported Healthy Beginnings by giving our members the opportunity to Adopt-a-Bear. Traditionally we put their names on a bear (if they choose) and hang them up in our branches so we can show our support. Starting on April 6 and going through Friday, April 24, members and the community will be able to support Healthy Beginnings by Adopting a Bear.
Healthy Beginnings, a Central Oregon Non-Profit provides access to health, education and behavior services for young children and their families.
Free Screening Clinics
Did you know there is a program in Central Oregon that can help children with health and development issues succeed? Healthy Beginnings offers FREE, that’s right, FREE screening clinics all throughout Central Oregon for 
The screening clinics have 12 stations – each hosted by an expert in their field of work – where parents can sit and have time to discuss their concerns about the child’s behavior, health, nutrition, motor and concept skills, hearing, vision and other areas. If an expert does detect a concern, Healthy Beginnings staff partners with community organizations to help parents connect with resources like an audiologist or Early Childhood Special Education to ensure that their child will enter kindergarten prepared and ready to learn at the same rate as their classmates.
Adopt-a-Bear Funds
All the funds raised through the 2015 Adopt-a-Bear program will ensure that all children will have a healthy beginning by attending our screenings. The state has identified universal community screenings as best practice, providing consistent, reliable, valid, evidence based screening for young children – but there is no state funding available. Instead, Healthy Beginnings relies heavily on community support to keep the screenings available to children and their families free of charge. By encouraging your members to purchase a bear in honor of the young children in their life, they are in turn providing a bright future to the children of Central Oregon.
To donate online or get more information, visit the Healthy Beginnings website.
Give Your College-Bound Student a Personal Finance Crash Course
Does your young-adult student need a crash course in personal finance? A recent financial literacy survey by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) reveals that the majority of adults say they learned the most about personal finance from their parents. Should you give your student a personal finance crash course?
Basic Financial Knowledge Checklist
Parents: Compliments of the NFCC, here’s a checklist of basic knowledge that will benefit everyone managing his or her own money:
* Budgeting: Be clear with yourself and with your student about how much money is available for expenses. Help him create a workable monthly budget that balances income, loans, and gifts with anticipated expenses. This discipline is a skill that will pay benefits for a lifetime.
* Recording financial transactions: Show your student the importance of recording all transactions in a check register or monitoring online, tallying the running balance daily, and balancing financial statements every month. Tracking expenses might reveal some surprises (60% of your income is spent on dining out?) and provide opportunities to change direction.
Wise Use of Credit
* Using credit: Tell your student why it’s important to commit to paying each credit card bill in full and on time each month. By using credit wisely, she will be learning how to live within her means while creating a positive credit file that could help when buying a car, renting an apartment, obtaining insurance, and even landing a job.
* Getting financially organized: Help your student commit to keeping all financial records, bills, and bank statements in one location. This will help ensure that he will pay bills on time, avoid late fees, and keep an unblemished credit score.
* Recognizing the dangers of Identity theft: Discuss forms of identity theft, the kinds of personal information that need to be protected, and how to protect them—even, and especially, from friends and roommates. Discuss the pitfalls of careless, unprotected use of social media. Tell them about CardNav to protect their debit card from misuse.
Take Their Membership to College
Remember, too, that your departing young adult is still eligible for Mid Oregon Credit Union membership. Our low-cost, high-quality services will give any member a leg up on personal finances. The staff members at Mid Oregon are valuable resources.
How to Talk With Your Grandkids About Money
Unless you talk with your grandkids about money, how are you going to positively influence them? You might be wondering how to talk with your grandkids about money. Here are some ways to start the conversation–and it’s not about writing them a check:
Share About the Past
• Tell stories from your own life. It can be as simple as explaining how you saved for your first car or how you managed when money was tight.
• Talk about how prices have changed. Historical context can be interesting to kids, particularly when it involves how inexpensive common goods or brand names they’re familiar with used to be.
• Bring up savings when you give gifts. Christmas and birthdays can be a good time to encourage your grandkids to save with a money gift.
Put Them To Work
• Hire your grands. Create opportunities for them to listen and share in money conversations by offering to pay them an hourly wage to do chores around the house.
• Listen. If your grandkids are worried about their financial future, they may need an accommodating ear.
Engage in Money Conversations
Talking about money can be more important than handing it over. Engage your grandchildren in money conversations that help them see how you got where you are today. If you have resources to help out, that’s just a bonus.
Share the credit union difference with your loved ones. Tell them about the advantages of membership at Mid Oregon Credit Union and encourage them to contact us. Mid Oregon has savings tools to help them save, and checking accounts to help them manage money.