Publix Super Markets Charities has given more than $41,000 through their ongoing partnership with Junior Achievement (JA) of Georgia to support various learning solutions. Publix Super Markets Charities has maintained a storefront sponsorship in JA Finance Park at the JA Chick-fil-A Foundation Discovery Center since 2013, and they opened a storefront space in August in JA Finance Park presented by Assurant at the JA Discovery Center at Gwinnett.

Their storefront offers middle school students the opportunity to experience their financial futures first hand. JA Finance Park arms students with the knowledge to budget, save and invest through an immersive and authentic simulation experience. After being given a life scenario with details such as their education level, income and family structure, students must decide how to save, spend and invest their money at 18 different businesses. Their decisions range from needs like housing and food, to wants like entertainment and luxury cars.

At the Publix store, students make budgeting decisions around providing food for themselves and their families. Do they have enough room in the budget for fresh produce every week, or do they need to make compromises elsewhere to achieve a healthy diet? What is the cost difference in preparing meals at home versus eating meals out? These are just a few of the questions that volunteers help students answer during their time in the Publix store.

Publix Super Markets Charities’ support of JA’s learning solutions goes beyond their storefront sponsorships in the metro-Atlanta area. The grant funding supports learning solutions across multiple regions in the state, including the Southern Coastal, Northwest, Northeast and West Central Georgia areas, to help JA serve nearly 170,000 students annually.