The second floor of Enterprise Charter School in downtown Buffalo has become home to Junior Achievement of Western New York.

"Junior Achievement is a non-profit that teaches financial literacy, entrepreneurship and workforce readiness program," Events Manager Tammy Bixby said.

The mission is to inspire kids kindergarten through 12th grade to be prepared for their future. The program has been helping students across Western New York dream for 60 years.

"We think correlates with what they’re learning now, so it’s everything correlating to New York State standards," Bixby said.

But, getting kids ready for a successful future starts with you.

The non-profit is ran by only six individuals and they heavily rely on volunteers, which you can get your employer involved in.

"Many companies already have a volunteer program, so they will already support you going out during the school day," she said.

In other words, you don’t have to be a teacher.  You’ll go through an orientation and get a kit to bring into the classroom. You can also provide monetary support. 

"Over 50 companies that are actively fundraising right now on our behalf for Junior Achievement Kids in March at five different locations,” Bixby explained.

A media bowling challenge previewing the event took place Wednesday at Transit Lanes in Williamsville. Spectrum News' Scott Patterson, Alex Haight and myself were putting our skills to the test, vying for the Junior Achievement golden pin.

This year's fundraising goal is $165,000, a quarter of the non-profit's annual budge. The money helps pay for programs when school districts can’t.

West Seneca students, Nicholas Dalessandro and Hailie Kabala say Junior Achievement teaches them lessons they use far beyond the classroom.

"I learned how to take out loans. [It's a] very important thing that I’m going to have to use later in life," Dalessandro said. "And I’ve also learned a very important thing,  that I want to go into the school of business like I want to double major in marketing and business and that something I’m very passionate about."

"We had a function in the real world like stuff like accounting and journals and ledgers all that type of stuff," Kabala said.

On March 2 and 9, there will be 1,400 bowlers taking aim at pins for the cause. There are still lanes open.