VyStar Credit Union held a ceremony Wednesday to celebrate the first year of its High School Debit Card Give Back Program and announce an overall donation of $31,061.15 to the 19 area high schools that participate in the VyStar Academy of Business High School Branch Program.
VyStar’s High School Debit Card Give Back Program was launched in 2022 as a way to bring the community together in support of local education. Each school in VyStar’s High School Branch Program has a unique debit card that is branded with its school logo. VyStar donates 5 cents to the corresponding school for every purchase made with that school’s debit card, up to $10,000 per school each year.
“We are incredibly grateful for everyone who shares in our commitment to support students and educators in our communities and helped make the first year of this program such a success,” said VyStar EVP/Chief Operations Officer Chad Meadows. “This program is meant to be an opportunity for students, teachers, alumni and anyone with pride in their neighborhood school to make a difference through their everyday purchases. We encourage anyone who is interested in participating to get involved.”
The following five schools were the top earners in 2022:
Bartram Trail High School, $7,584.90
West Nassau High School, $3,709.25
Fleming Island High School, $3,570.85
Palatka High School, $2,462.80
Pedro Menendez High School, $2,407.50
Any VyStar member with a personal checking account can visit a branch to request a school-branded debit card. Additionally, opening a personal checking account can be done online, at a branch or by calling VyStar’s Contact Center at 904-777-6000 or 800-445-6289. VyStar’s Contact Center representatives are available Monday through Saturday, from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., excluding holidays. For information about a specific branch, please visit VyStar’s Locations page.
“We are so proud of the schools in our High School Branch Program, and we know these funds will be put to great use,” said Michael Rathjen, VyStar’s Vice President of School Programs. “It’s exciting to know how popular these debit cards have become. This is only the first year of our Give Back Program, and we look forward to donating even more money to our school partners in the future.”
VyStar launched the High School Branch Program in 2006 to provide work-site experience and paid internship opportunities to students across the communities it serves. The program enables students to experience the inner workings of key financial services, as the day-to-day operations of the high school branches are managed by a team of students under the co-supervision of the school’s career and technical education teacher and VyStar personnel. Since launching the program, VyStar has provided 1,788 paid internships, hired 66 student graduates full time and delivered financial education training to over 106,000 students.