Martha Ryan, DCMO BOCES Enrichment Coordinator, Rebecca Hedlund, SFCU Membership Engagement Officer, Sara Stafford, DCMO BOCES Director of Special Education, and Denys Soto, SFCU Membership Services Coordinator pose with a check representing SFCU’s donation to the DCMO BOCES Backpack Program.(Submitted photo)

NORWICH - The DCMO BOCES Backpack Program received a donation from Sidney Federal Credit Union on Monday. Rebecca Hedlund, SFCU Membership Engagement Officer, and Denys Soto, SFCU Membership Services Coordinator, presented a $1,000 check to Sara Stafford, Director of Special Education for DCMO BOCES.

“For some of our students, the backpack program gives them access to snacks and serves ready foods they can consume during school breaks when school food is unavailable,” Stafford said. “The generous contribution from SFCU will help us feed more students.”

The donation follows the Real World Money Edition events that SFCU recently sponsored at the two DCMO BOCES campuses. Those hands-on financial learning experiences asked students to make budgeting decisions across a range of “real life” categories. The exercise taught students the importance of including charitable contributions in their plans, and through their budgeting choices, the students identified the food bank as a top priority for their charitable giving. The DCMO BOCES Backpack Program helps address the same food insecurity issues as the food bank, and was selected by SFCU to receive a donation. The contribution represent a gift for the students who participated in the program, according to Martha Ryan, DCMO BOCES Enrichment Coordinator. “This gift could come back to the same students who chose supporting food banks.  The lessons they learned could positively impact their future in many ways.”

Headquartered in Sidney, NY, SFCU is a full-service, federally-chartered credit union providing a range of financial services for its members. It operates in all or parts of 14 counties in New York State. DCMO BOCES is a regional provider of educational services to students and schools, and operates school campuses in Sidney Center and Norwich. To find out more about their services and programs, visit www.dcmoboces.com.

- Information from DCMO BOCES