February’s $1,000 Winner!

“First I was just saving but after participating in Fund My Future PGH, I took it more seriously; Fund My Future PGH gives me motivation to keep on saving.”

Congratulations to Markia, our Fund My Future PGH March $1000 winner. Markia first heard about Fund My Future PGH through a friend. But it wasn’t until she attended the Homewood Community Day event during the summer of 2021 that she actually enrolled for her son. Markia is no stranger to winning because back in January, she was a $50 Winner. However she was unable to claim her full prize because the account was not in her child’s name.

Growing up in a single parent household, Markia did not have the opportunity to save because her mother was on a fixed income. It wasn’t until she obtained her first job as an adult that she was able to start saving for herself. At that time joined a credit union.

Now that Markia has a child, she doesn’t want him to go through what she went through. So she decided to look for different perks that her job had to offer. One was a promotion with her credit union, where she could deposit 10% of her pay into a separate savings account. She was already saving for her son in this account but after not being able to claim her prize in January, she didn’t get discouraged. Instead, she contacted the credit union to update her information and fortunately was able to claim her full prize of $1000 for March. Markia feels excited and proud and will continue to save the money she won.

A March $50 winner

“Wealth is the ability to fully experience life and Fund My Future PGH keeps me focused with the reminders and emails.”

Meet Jasmine, mother of three boys and a Fund My Future PGH March $50 winner. Jasmine found out about Fund My Future PGH while attending the Pittsburgh Public Schools Summer Dreamers Back to School Program. She thought it was a great program for her child who was about 7 years old at the time.  She liked the concept of encouraging saving at an early age because she did not have that as a child.

Jasmine remembers getting her first bank account when she was in the 11^th grade, while working after school. However, savings was not a priority at that time because her mother basically took care of everything. As an adult, Jasmine has met big savings goals, such as homeownership, which she accomplished 4 years ago. Now she is guiding her boys so they can have a better understanding of the value of saving.

On April 1^st, she received an email from Fund My Future PGH, notifying her of her win.  Although she was somewhat apprehensive about responding on April Fools Day, she knew that she was enrolled in Fund My Future PGH and that she had won. After responding, Jasmine was able to claim her full prize of $50 which she ended up putting immediately into her son’s account.