When Lisa Baskfield was chair of the Minnesota Society of CPAs, she went to dinner with Ernie Almonte, who at the time was the chair of the American Institute of CPAs.

He talked to her about a program called Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, an organization that works to help soldiers keep their jobs when called for military deployment. Baskfield, the founder and chief executive of Baskfield & Associates in Rogers, Minn., who doesn't have a military background, was both intrigued and inspired.

When she called to find out more about the program and how she could help, the person on the other end of the line was not involved in that particular initiative, but rather another program called Beyond the Yellow Ribbon.

"It was kind of a fluke," Baskfield recalled. "I said, 'I want to help out,' and the woman was quiet. Then I said, 'Let me tell you what I do. I help people achieve their financial goals. Is this something your soldiers need?' and she said, 'Yes.'"

Baskfield, with help from her colleague, Vicki Krause, started developing the financial literacy component of the program. Her first workshop, held in August 2008, focused on living within wants and means. In September of that year, she met a group of returning soldiers and, instead of presenting a session, she opened up the floor and answered their questions, as they had just returned to an economy that was crashing.

Three months later, Baskfield made her first presentation to a group that was being deployed, and noticed that many soldiers found themselves with more money during deployment. Her workshop focused on budgeting and saving while being deployed.

Since then, she has offered workshops on pre-deployment budgeting, how to survive in the economy upon their return to civilian life, and basic investing. "In the work that we do, it's very hard to quantify whether you are making a difference, but we know we are," she said. "There are weekends we will talk to 700 to 1,000 soldiers and families. There are not a lot of ways CPAs can give back with their skill set. I wish people could come and see the soldiers that come up afterwards and say, 'Thank you.' It's very rewarding."

Baskfield said that all states have a support and advocacy program for soldiers, and one of her goals is to help CPAs incorporate the financial literacy workshops into other states' initiatives. "It's a great way our profession can say thank you to all the men and women who serve our country," she said.

STATE SOCIETY EFFORTS

Don Meyer, director of communications and marketing for the New Jersey Society of CPAs, agreed: "I think there are a lot of members who love to give back in this way, particularly in speaking to children. They love talking to audiences and feeling like they are helping them. We've never had a problem getting volunteers for any financial literacy effort."

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