As part of Money Smart Month, the St. Louis Regional Financial Empowerment Coalition is hosting an essay contest for middle school youth in grades 6-8. Three winners will be selected from all qualifying entries received by April 16, 2021.
The 2021 Money Smart Month Essay Question is:
What have been the financial implications of the COVID-19 pandemic in your community?
How could we better prepare for these types of financial hardships in the future?
Please click here to download an application with contest guidelines.
Sponsored by the following companies.
Three winners were selected by a panel of volunteer judges to receive scholarships of $2,000, $1,000, and $500. Though we were not able to present the awards in person this year, we are happy to congratulate them here!
First Place Winner:
Anthony Holmes – Florissant, MO
Second Place Winner:
Sophia Lundry – Chesterfield, MO
Third Place Winner:
Blake Schaper – Alton, IL
Essay contest winners were also able to identify local nonprofits to receive a donation on behalf of the students. Nonprofits selected were Affinia Healthcare Foundation (selected by Holmes), Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri (selected by Lundry) and the 5 A’s Animal Shelter in Alton (selected by Schaper).
Sponsors of the essay contest include Stifel Bank & Trust, Commerce Bank and Midwest BankCentre. (A full list of sponsors can be found here.)
The Money Smart Kids essay contest is sponsored by Money Smart St. Louis as part of our region-wide Money Smart Month initiative in April 2019. The contest is part of a nationwide initiative created by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago in 2002.