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Julie Dahlhoff (center) of MBFC presents Reality Check volunteers Kim Hause and Justine Wettschreck with a $1,500 check to help fund the budgeting program for high school seniors at MCC and Fulda.
It’s hard to believe, but we are going into year three of Reality Check, the budgeting project for high school seniors.
Reality Check – a live-action game of Life – started in Murray County when a social media post regarding a similar program caught the eye of a librarian.
“Could we do something like this?” she asked.
“I don’t see why not,” replied the 4-H Youth Educator.
“Can we make it fun?” asked the EDA Coordinator.
“I don’t see why not,” replied the 4-H Youth Educator.
A bank and two school districts jumped on board, the ad hoc group got a plinko game, skee-ball and some plastic ducks, and the Murray County version of Reality Check was born.
High school seniors from MCC and Fulda school districts will attend an interac-tive program on March 27 that assigns them an income, then sends them out to choose insurance, transportation, medical, finance options and more.
The students go from booth to booth during the event at the MCC gym to pick what fits into their budget. They will make decisions regarding how much they can spend on entertainment, will learn what they will need to pay for daycare and groceries, and be challenged by how to handle life’s unexpected surprises when it comes to operating their household without going broke.
How does that involve skee-ball, plinko and ducks? Students play plinko to find out if they are married, spin a wheel to find out of a spouse has a second income and pick a numbered duck to find out how many children they have to support. Using skee-ball and a raffle drum, each student is required to make change using funny money.
Thanks to a grant from Minnesota Business Finance Corporation, the group was able to invest funds into a few permanent items that are used each year – tablecloths, binders, some office supplies, and some gift cards to give away as prizes.
What the group needs now is volunteers! It takes about two dozen people to make this day happen. Volunteers man the various booths, assisting the students with banking, groceries, insurance and more. The volunteer day runs from 8 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, March 27 at MCC. The students go through in two 1 ½ hour shifts.
Anyone interested in volunteering can contact Kim at hausek@umn.edu or Justine at jwettschreck@co.murray.mn.us. You can also call Justine at 507-8366023.
