April 21, 2026
During a Financial Reality Check simulation, a high school gym transforms into something unexpected.
A foldable table representing a bank sits beside another masquerading as a clothing store. A cell phone provider shares a wall with a vacation booth. There’s even a nightclub.
Students walk in with budget sheets, assigned careers, salaries, and fictional lives to manage. They go from table to table making choices about rent, groceries, transportation, debt, and temptation — all while trying to live within their means.
And at every booth is a volunteer.
For National Volunteer Week, we’re celebrating the volunteers who make United Way’s Financial Reality Check experience come alive for students across the Alberta Capital Region — the people who return again and again to help young people build confidence in managing money, making decisions, and thinking about their futures in a whole new way.
Because for many of these volunteers, this simulation event isn’t a one-time experience.
It’s something they come back to.
Month after month.
When asked how long they’ve been volunteering with Financial Reality Check and what keeps them returning, many volunteers have something in common: the moment they realize this simulation is bigger than a budgeting exercise.
“This is my third one now. They’re just so much fun. I leave thinking, wow — they’re engaged, they’re learning, they’re setting themselves up for success. To be part of that is really enjoyable. Really meaningful.” — Holly MacQuarrie, General Bank of Canada
Volunteers watch students begin the session confidently. Then they see the moment it clicks — how quickly a salary disappears, how fast choices add up, and how careful thinking replaces casual decision-making.
And the volunteers get to be part of that turning point in a young person’s life.
Some volunteers run booths as “salespeople,” encouraging students to make purchasing decisions and testing their ability to stick to a plan.
Others act as financial coaches, sitting down with students after the simulation to review their budgets and talk about savings, credit, and debt.
But no matter the role, the outcome is the same: helping students understand the importance of planning ahead, preparing for setbacks, and making informed decisions.
“If we can set these young adults up with the tools to make the right decisions, it gives them a head start. It gives them the ability to move forward without maybe relying on things like food banks, and without the stress — mental and otherwise — of wondering if they can pay their bills at the end of the month.” — Tony Scozzafava, EPCOR
Every simulation creates moments that stay with volunteers long after the gym is packed up and the booths are folded away.
They remember the pauses. The recalculations. The questions students didn’t know they needed to ask before they walked into the simulation.
They see students rethink what they thought they knew about money, adulthood, and responsibility — in real time.
“My hope is for students to learn that every decision they make — little or big — has financial consequences. I want them to leave with a better understanding so they don’t have to learn the hard way. And I think they will.” — Darren Andruko, Retired
This National Volunteer Week, as Canadians are invited to “Ignite Volunteerism” and “Find Your Thing,” we’re proud to celebrate the volunteers who have found theirs through Financial Reality Check.
They show up. They step into a role. And for a few hours, they help to shape a young person’s financial future.
And then they come back to do it again.
Want to share your knowledge and experience to help give students a glimpse of real-life financial decision-making? Explore how you can impart your wisdom at an upcoming Financial Reality Check event!
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