BROOMALL, Penn.–Mike Berenstain, Author, Illustrator, and President of Berenstain Enterprises, was presented with the Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union Partners in Education 2016 Financial Literacy Advocate award before some 600 educators, students, parents, and community leaders attending the annual Partners in Education Celebration. The renowned author/illustrator was honored for his commitment to and fervor for financial education. In his acceptance speech, Mike emphasized the important lessons his parents taught him about saving and being a good steward of his money.
Mike Berenstain is the son of Stan and Jan Berenstain, of the famed Berenstain Bears® series of books, which date back to 1962. “Teaching kids about financial responsibility and literacy was always something dear to the hearts of my parents, Stan and Jan,” Mike said. “Their ongoing mission was to educate children about the values of hard work, thrift and financial prudence. So, it seems quite appropriate that the Berenstain Bears have become so identified with this subject and have taken on the role of financial educators.”
Mike is credited as a creator of his family’s bear family beginning in 1995. He continued the Berenstain Bears with his mother following Stan’s death in 2005, and took over creation of the series after Jan’s death in 2012. A year prior, Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union (FMFCU) had entered into an exclusive agreement with Berenstain Enterprises to develop The Berenstain Bears Financial Literacy Program.
FMFCU created the subsidiary Credit Union Network for Financial Literacy (CUNFL) to operate the program and make it available to credit unions across the country. Mike wrote and illustrated the program’s signature piece The Berenstain Bears Visit the Credit Union (2015, CUNFL). This book is unique because it’s the only one of its kind featuring such high profile children’s characters but written exclusively for credit unions. Mike said, “The Berenstain Bears Visit the Credit Union is much more specific in its details than other books, since it deals with the special information unique to credit unions and the particular community environment that credit union members enjoy.”
“Mike’s advocacy of financial literacy has allowed thousands of children to learn strong money management skills,” said Rick Durante, Executive Director of FMFCU Partners in Education.
In addition to formally honoring this year’s Financial Literacy Advocate, the annual Partners in Education Celebration recognized the 2016 Delco Hi-Q Academic Competition Teams (Hi-Q is the nation’s oldest, continuous academic quiz competition), the Delco Hi-Q Hall of Honor Inductee, recipients of the Delaware County Excellence in Teaching Award, John D. Unangst Scholarship Winners, and the Student-Operated Branch Council.