Ted McGill believed that money was best used wisely.  

In 1955, McGill, an employee in Bottle House A at the Olympia Brewery, thought it was a good idea to begin a credit union for brewery workers. With his gift of persuasion and head for numbers, he set out to do just that.

At first, he was the credit union: He would walk around the brewery with membership cards, loan applications and receipts stuffed in his shirt pocket.

Wherever he went, he talked about saving money.

Initially, he called his financial cooperative the Olympia Brewing Company Employees and Family Credit Union. Soon after, he shortened the name of the credit union to the O Bee Credit Union.

Since then, McGill's creation has grown; in doing so, it has come to appreciate the value of Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

It comes as no surprise, then, that when the South Sound Military & Communities Partnership (SSMCP) decided to host its inaugural Family Financial Forum, O Bee Credit Union stepped up to enhance the event.

"SSMCP wishes to increase financial literacy in our JBLM community," wrote Chrysinthia Murry, marketing coordinator for O Bee.

SSMPC is a partnership designed to provide regional leadership to bridge military and civilian communities.

"Our focus is to educate the JBLM community about the resources available to them that they otherwise don't know exist," Murry continued.

The Family Financial Forum will be held Saturday, Oct. 28, from 8 a.m. to noon at Woodbrook Middle School, located at 14920 Spring St. SW, Lakewood.

The event is free.

The forum is focused on showing individuals how they can keep more of their money and grow more of what they keep.

Workshops for adults will focus on subjects like preparing for financial readiness, transitioning finances, reducing debt, investing wisely, avoiding identity theft and improving credit scores.

For children in kindergarten through Grade 12, the forum will offer creative workshops on subjects ranging from learning how to put money aside to how to budget for college.

"The session O Bee is running is directed at children in kindergarten through second grade," explained Murry. "Our financial literacy program includes a book reading: The Berenstain Bears Visit the Credit Union, an interactive game to reinforce the lesson. Along with the reading, there will be a surprise visit from Brother and Sister Bear."

That would come as no surprise to Ted McGill; he understood the value of saving money.

For more information, contact Shaida Hossein at shossein@giveanhour.org or 563.299.8875.