M&M Area Community Foundation to start Future Fund for kindergarten students

Children in Marinette and Menominee counties starting kindergarten this year are also starting with a new tradition. The M&M Area Community Foundation has been working for two years to build savings accounts for local students.

"We will give every single kindergarten student throughout Marinette and Menominee counties a $50 savings account,” Foundation Executive Director Paula Gruszynski told TV6 News. “Throughout the program, there are various incentives with the school districts, the financial institutes and the Community Foundation. We'll partner throughout the students school career to add additional funds as we go along."

"It'll carry them all the way through high school plus if they decide to go on to a four year college, they'll have the opportunity to build that account,” Wausakee Schools Superintendent Bob Berndt said. “If they go to a two year college, they'll have the opportunity to build that. It's just a tremendous opportunity that we would have never gotten if the foundation has not put this in place."

The group does understand that not all students know exactly what they want to do after high school. So the savings account can be held up to four years after graduation.

"There are students who when they get out of high school will not have made a decision exactly what their future is and how they want to give back and contribute,” Gruszynski said. “So they can access the Future Fund up to four years after graduation."

The Foundation says this new program fits right into the group's mission.

"The mission of the Community Foundation is inspire people to leave lasting legacies that enrich our communities,” Gruszynski said. “We thought there was no better way to meet our mission than to invest in the students of our communities."

Students starting Kindergarten this fall will be the first to benefit from this program.