PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Screams and cheers echoed in the auditorium of Robert Morris School in Sharswood as Kevin Hart walked in, waving and smiling. The Philadelphia-born actor and comedian spoke with the students about reading books and saving money.
“We're trying to put our feet on the ground and do our best to close the significant gap that the world sees when it comes to financial literacy. You have to figure out more ways to open and access doors to the community and engage with them in a way that we feel like they'll receive the information, understand it," Hart said.
Hart is partnering with JPMorgan Chase, which runs the Book Trust program through a grant from the William Penn Foundation.
Book Trust allows about 17,000 students in the city to receive one donated book each to read in class, which they can later add to their home collection.
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Hart says it’s better for kids to begin to understand the value of money early.
"You know, that younger generation really needs to understand that. It needs to be embedded in their heads so that, as they grow up, … they grow up with confidence and with their heads held high,” he said. “And meeting and interacting with someone like myself at this time in their life is important. These are things that they hold on to."
Ahead of Hart’s visit, the students made vision boards to show some of the things they would like to save their money for. And they all received a copy of Kevin’s children’s book, “Marcus Makes it Big.”
"Seeing kids put down things like ‘family’ or ‘a house,’ ‘food’ — you know, … the things they want to save money for — if they're already thinking about it at this age, that's a beautiful thing,” he said.
“It wasn’t until I was about 19, 20, where I started to go, ‘OK, now that I get the money, what am I supposed to do with the money? How am I supposed to save the money? And what am I saving the money for?’ Even after answering those questions, I still spent it on stupid stuff.”
The partnership of Hart, JPMorgan Chase, and Book Trust is part of a nationwide initiative spearheaded by Hart.