Across Town: Student-run credit union opens at Belvoir

Ft. Belvoir –– The credit union is once again open for business at Fort Belvoir Elementary School.

Belvoir Federal Credit Union reopened its student-run branch at the elementary school on the Army base, as it does every October, to provide students, faculty and staff the convenience of having a credit union on campus.

The branch also promotes financial literacy and responsibility to the students, said credit union spokeswoman Amy Shanks.

Dubbed the “Dolphin Branch,” sixth graders who score exceptionally well in their math classes operate the branch, learning the operational side of how a credit union works while learning how to save money.

Every student at the school is eligible to become a member of the credit union, said Shanks.

The branch opened after Belvoir Federal Credit Union in August closed its branches in Woodbridge and Gar-Field high schools and in Godwin Middle School.

At the time, Shanks said the decision to close branches in the Woodbridge-area schools was made so the credit union could better prepare for the some 20,000 new customers they anticipate as part of the BRAC relocation next year.

Military and federal workers will be relocated to Ft. Belvoir and Quantico as part of the relocation.

Belvoir Federal Credit Union is owned by its members and does business as a non-profit financial cooperative.