SUSTAINABILITY SPOTLIGHT
PNC Volunteers Bring Basic Financial Knowledge to New Volunteer Opportunity
Two Central PA volunteers share the difference PNC Center for Financial Education’s ‘banking basics’ makes to pre-K families at PNC Grow Up Great partner centers.
April 22, 2025
For about two years now, the PNC Center for Financial Education (CFE), an effort led by Community Development Banking, has been collaborating with community-based nonprofits to offer financial education to individuals, first-time homebuyers and small businesses.
Now, in a new collaboration with PNC Grow Up Great, the CFE is teaming up with PNC Grow Up Great partner early education centers to deliver financial education to families of pre-K children.
‘You can make it’
Fred Landis of Organizational Financial Wellness and Gus Torres of Corporate & Institutional Banking, both relationship managers in Central Pennsylvania, have volunteered their time to facilitate financial education seminars for the past year. They present the CFE “banking basics” curriculum to individuals who sign up through Community Progress Council, a York County nonprofit focused on helping people move toward economic self-sufficiency.
The nonprofit is a Head Start provider and PNC Grow Up Great partner; Ellen Kyzer, PNC client and community relations director for the Central PA market, also serves as board chair. The seminar explains how to create a spending plan, build a saving account and more to participants, most of whom are working toward becoming first-time homebuyers.
“You think you’re delivering content they already know, but they’ll come up and say, ‘Thank you so much, this is a huge help,’” Landis said. “For me, what I take away is the tremendous amount of gratitude they have.”
“The best thing they say is that they realize they can change their situation,” Torres said. “They may be renting right now, but that doesn’t define whether they can buy a house in 6-8 months. We bring a level of seriousness and hold ourselves accountable. It just takes one person to believe in you and say, ‘You can make it.’”
The organization says its partnership with PNC has been an asset. “Learning how to create a spending plan, building a savings account and manage existing resources are all stepping stones to economic mobility,” said Ruth Robbins, Community Progress Council chief program officer. “With a strong foundation, York County families can better weather any unexpected challenges as they work with us toward their goals in education, employment and income.”
Small effort, big impact
If someone gets involved in this volunteer opportunity, Landis and Torres say they’ll likely take away as much as they give.
“It’s the right thing to do; a good thing to do,” Landis said. “For me, the Community Progress Council carries special significance because I grew up in York City three blocks away. This is something I can do to help the very community I came from.”
For Torres, an Argentinian native who sometimes helps Hispanic participants with translation, it’s also about paying it forward. “It might only be an hour of your day, but it can have a huge impact,” he said. “Think of a time somebody gave an hour of their day to help you and have that same mentality when you’re trying to help others. You’ll find something that will connect you to that community and those people.”
A PNC volunteer might have more to offer than they think, simply based on the knowledge they’ve gained as a PNC employee and a willingness to help.
“Gus and Fred are knowledgeable and personable, taking a potentially dry or overwhelming series of topics and breaking down information in our workshops in a way that’s approachable for all levels,” Robbins said. “Their commitment to building trust in the classroom makes it easier for participants to take the next steps in their journey to self-sufficiency, knowing there are friendly faces in the community ready to support them.”
The PNC Grow Up Great and CFE collaboration is being offered in a number of PNC markets beginning in April and continuing throughout the year. Volunteers can help teach a financial education workshop to families of pre-K children enrolled at PNC early education partner centers in their market, either in-person or via Microsoft Teams, following a CFE Facilitator Guide.
For more information on PNC Grow Up Great, visit here.
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