It’s called the Financial Literacy Council of Greater Hamilton County.

According to Barb Wollan, who is the organization’s secretary, the United States ranks 14th in the world in financial literacy.

The importance of that statistic is that research shows lack of financial knowledge and skills can limit people’s financial well-being throughout their lives.

That includes planning how they’ll pay for a post-secondary education.

“I believe in the importance of building financial skills,” said Wollan, who is also a human sciences specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. “That’s why I support the Financial Literacy Council of Greater Hamilton County and their initiatives to bolster financial literacy skills in our community’s youth.”

The council is a new nonprofit, she said.

Its primary project is launching a countywide child savings account program in partnership with Availa Bank.

“We are grateful for the Availa Foundation’s ongoing support for this project,” Rick Young said. He is chairman of the council.

“However, Availa does not provide any funds for operating the program, which does require substantial data entry, communication with the College Savings Iowa 529 program, and outreach to parents. We have an individual contracted for a few hours a month to manage all of that, which costs money,” he added.

“We hope to make this a true community effort by getting support from dozens, or even hundreds, of local organizations and individuals.”

Right now, the council is looking for support on any level — from $25 to $100 to $1,000. You can do so at www.financialliteracycouncil.com/donate.

“Our hope,” said Young, “is that people will make giving to the financial literacy council an annual habit, but we welcome one-time contributions.”

About the child savings accounts

In Hamilton County, the program is called AvailaKares. It establishes a 529 college savings plan with a $100 initial deposit for each kindergarten graduate of a Hamilton County school, after parents complete an enrollment form.

Availa is the primary funder of the accounts, but Hamilton County also contributes a portion of the funding. Those funds are then available for the student to use for any type of accredited post-secondary education. They remain available to the young person if they don’t go directly on to school. They can access the funds up to 10 years after graduation.

According to Barb Wollan, research on similar projects in forward-thinking communities has shown that children who have even a small amount of money set aside for their education after high school have better academic outcomes. They are more likely to complete high school, and more likely to enroll in post-secondary education.

“The thinking is that when a child grows up knowing there is money set aside for their future education, that creates a vision — they start believing that further education is possible and even likely for them,” Wollan said.

Added to that, she said, is the fact that their community wants to invest in them. It’s an important motivator for students.

The ultimate vision of Hamilton County’s Financial Literacy Council is that other donors would step up in the future to make additional contributions to children’s accounts as they reach further educational milestones.

Establishing a broad base of operational funding at about $7,000 a year will enable the Council to take the time and energy currently devoted to maintaining operations and instead focus it on growing its financial literacy community outreach efforts.