St. Lawrence Federal Credit union executives donated funding to create a financial literacy center at SUNY Canton. From leftm Geoffrey VanderWoude, Elizabeth Pier, Todd Mashaw, Jondavid Delong and Keith Rosser.

CANTON -- A $10,000 gift from the St. Lawrence Federal Credit Union will allow SUNY Canton to establish a financial literacy center on campus to help students, credit union members and the larger North Country community.

The center will be in the SUNY Canton Accounting, Business and Finance Center and will serve as a local resource for no-cost financial education and counseling services.

SUNY Canton will use the funding for seminars on personal finance topics including budgeting, family money skills, managing debt, smart purchasing and living decisions, taxes, and planning for and financing higher education and retirement.

Current SUNY Canton students in business-related majors will receive specialized training to assist educators in providing these services.

“St. Lawrence Federal Credit Union is happy to support SUNY Canton in establishing the much needed financial literacy center and look forward to watching this become a successful endeavor for financial literacy within the North Country,” said Todd Mashaw, St. Lawrence Federal Credit Union president and CEO.

The center will work with SUNY Canton’s existing Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, its Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and its legal assistance partnership with the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York to help identify and serve the needs of individuals for financial education.