Caden Harris will soon be on the road teaching finance at schools and clubs all over the metro Atlanta area.
By Cheryl Preheim
A lesson about money, budgets and saving for kids – from a kid.
A young entrepreneur will soon be on the road teaching finance at schools and clubs all over the metro Atlanta area.
11Alive Anchor Cheryl Preheim talked to 11-year-old CEO, author and business owner Caden Harris about his latest venture – a mobile financial learning center.
“I want to be able to take it anywhere so that kids all over can learn about financial literacy,” Harris said
Harris got the idea when a fortune cookie told him that something on four wheels would be a fun investment. His father, Sean Harris, said it didn’t take long for that fortune to come true.
“Two weeks after that, he actually purchased the bus on his own – cash – with the profits from his business,” he said.
Harris invested $10,000 of his own money into the school bus, but there was still a lot of work to be done.
“It was dirty, the interior was trashed out,” Harris’ dad said.
It was time to renovate. Harris went to numerous Atlanta CEOs to raise the capital to cover the costs. Many were quick to invest in the young business owner and his idea to help teach kids about money. Investors included Goodr, Beautiful Briny Sea, Afrokids, Ziggy, Tootie Cakes and more.
After weeks of hard work, the bus was finally done. It is currently hidden behind the New Black Wall Street in Stonecrest, where it will remain until the reveal. Even Harris has yet to see the renovations – he wants to be surprised.
The financial literacy bus will debut Saturday, July 30 but Harris’ father gave 11Alive an exclusive look inside.
The bus is complete with an ATM, an interactive bank, a stock market and even a stocked store.
“So kids will be able to budget – necessity or luxury items,” Harris’ dad explained.
To them, it is all about helping others and empowering kids all over the state.
“Once they learn economics at an early age, they can make lifelong powerful decisions that will create generational wealth,” Harris’ dad said.
“I hope they can learn how to earn, save, budget and invest money,” Harris said. “With that, we’ll be able to have better communities, better cities, and I feel that this could really help.”
His goal is to have a learning center in every state. Until then, he and his dad said they will continue to raise money to keep the bus going and provide free financial visits and classes to underprivileged areas.
Harris already has school visits on his schedule for next month.
The bus will be unveiled Saturday, July 30 at 1 pm at the New Black Wall Street in Stonecrest.
Read the original story on 11Alive.com.
