The 100 Black Men of Milledgeville- Oconee chapter received funding from Wells Fargo to support the futures of graduating seniors Akello Cock and Tyrese Riddle.
The Milledgeville-Oconee chapter of 100 Black Men of America is a non-profit organization that mentors young Black men based around the four pillars of education, health and wellness, mentoring, and economic development. It was established June 3, 2003, and currently has 23 mentors and 45 mentees between the ages of 11-18.
“We try to instill in our mentees how to pursue economic and educational opportunities and have an awareness of good health,” said Robert Fuller, vice-president of the Milledgeville-Oconee chapter. “We work with the local school system, offer one-on-one mentoring, and provide intervention to mentees when necessary.”
Over the last four years, the chapter has participated in the Wells Fargo Junior Investment program, a curriculum-based simulation game that introduces young people to investing. According to Fuller, it is a simulated stock market competition, where participants are given a simulated $100,000 and 12 weeks to compete against each other to see who can earn the most money. The top five finishers go to the national conference.
“Over that 12-week period we use videos from the stock market game to teach tutorials on investing, saving, good credit, wealth-building and other topics along those lines,” said Fuller.
“In three out of the four years, we have participated, we have had a top-10 finisher and two of those years we had a top-5 finisher.”
Fuller applauded eighth grader Chris Rich, who placed fourth overall out of 125 teams competing in this year’s competition.
Both Akello and Tyrese have participated in the Junior Investment Club, which made them eligible to receive funding through the program.
Through the Wells Fargo Junior Investment Club and the Financial Literacy program, each senior received a $500 scholarship to go toward educational experiences.
“Wells Fargo surprised 128 students participating in the Junior Investment Club Competition with $200 each to invest in their individual financial futures. A few of those students were from the Milledgeville-Oconee chapter,” wrote Wells Fargo Communications Consultant Romnie Mills in an email to The Baldwin Bulletin. “Wells Fargo is The Bank of Doing and is doing more to provide access to financial education and to responsible and safe ways to manage finances for all.”
According to Fuller, there are no limitations on how this money may be used as long as it goes toward paying for college expenses.
“It can be tuition, books, extracurriculars, and more that can enhance their educational experience,” said Fuller.
“A lot of our mentees come from rural areas with systemic barriers.
This gives us an opportunity to help them overcome these barriers and encourage them to pursue the best education possible.”
According to Mills, the Wells Fargo Foundation is also using a $600,000 grant to expand the Junior Investment program to 30 markets across the country and continue to support economic empowerment efforts from the 100 Black Men of America. Its goal is to prepare students for their financial future.
“We would like to offer a big thank you to Wells Fargo for their financial assistance and to our volunteers Mamie Lewis Hurt, Maggie Mikell, and Rochelle Washington.
Each of these volunteers’ and organizations’ support allows us to continue to encourage and lead each of our mentees toward a greater future,” said Fuller.