1 in 365
With this edition of Connections, the CCC’s Community Outreach Committee is launching a new column called 1 in 365, highlighting ways that local businesses can and have connected with our community’s youth. The Committee acts as the philanthropic arm of the Chamber with the primary focus of promoting and supporting the Cambridge Challenge, a multi-year effort to bring businesses and youth together as partners. We will showcase the many ways, large and small, that our members have had an impact on the lives of Cambridge students.

The strength of the Cambridge Challenge is in the variety of options available to businesses that have a desire to connect with the community. The Challenge helps you identify and connect to an opportunity that is right for your business. The campaign to boost business involvement this year is called “1 in 365”—encouraging businesses to do just one thing in the next year to meet the Challenge. As businesses throughout the city have discovered, interacting with Cambridge youth can invigorate staff, build the skills of their future talent pool, and provide exposure for their company or organization. The range of options includes one-time career awareness activities such as company tours and guest speakers, to much deeper commitments, such as mentoring a student or hiring a teen for a school year internship or summer job.

Cambridge Savings Bank met the Challenge by fostering a partnership with the city’s summer youth employment program. Spearheaded by Susan Lapierre, Senior Vice President of Community Relations, this pilot effort resulted in dozens of teens completing four hours of financial literacy training offered by a CSB trainer. Through this partnership, the teens, many of whom were employed in their first job this summer, gained an understanding of budgeting and saving, managing a checking account, credit smarts, and fraud and identity theft. CSB has a long history of supporting Cambridge youth, including hiring teens to work at the bank each summer.

“Cambridge Savings Bank’s goal is to improve financial knowledge within its community. We were grateful to connect with this group of teens through the Cambridge Challenge and for the opportunity to teach them valuable life-long financial skills,” said Senior Vice President of Community Relations and CRA Officer, Susan Lapierre. “Pre and post surveys were conducted and the results were impressive. Overall, the teens as a group improved their understanding of the subject by 89%.”
For a full description of the short and long-term opportunities available to businesses through the Challenge and a list of local businesses that have responded to the 1 in 365 call, visit www.cambridgechallenge.org. 

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