Teach Children to Save Day

In recognition of financial literacy month (April) and Teach Children to Save Day (April 24^th) Peoples Bank of the Ozarks visited eight different schools to train and remind children about the importance of saving money!  Eleven employees reached over 500 children with this important lesson! Peoples Bank of the Ozarks is a local, full service financial institution with ten branches in the Ozarks. 

People's Bank of the Ozarks
Nixa, Mo.
$284.8 million in assets

Columbia Bank Completes Another Community Project

This volunteer crew of Columbia Bank employees recently painted senior citizen home in Iselin, part of the national “Tooling Around Town” Program.  For the “spruce up,” the exterior of the home was power washed and completely painted.  The yard was also cleaned up, with new flowers planted.  All labor and materials were donated by Columbia Bank.

As a recognized “Community Bank,” Columbia regularly supports many locally-based projects, especially those that promote affordable housing, family assistance and neighborhood pride.  The Bank is also a regular sponsor of local Habitat for Humanity affordable housing projects.


Columbia Bank

Fair Lawn, NJ.

$4.6 billion in assets

First National Community Bank (FNCB) ‘Goes Green’ for a Cause

First National Community Bank (FNCB), the largest community bank in Northeastern Pennsylvania, is “Going Green for a Cause” with a unique environmentally friendly fundraiser for Saint Joseph’s Center.

FNCB is currently selling reusable tote bags for $2 at each of their 21 branches in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wayne and Monroe counties. The eco-friendly bag is made from 80% recycled plastic bottles. 100% of the proceeds from the sale will benefit Saint Joseph’s Center in Scranton.

Saint Joseph’s Center provides services to individuals diagnosed with intellectual disability or a developmental delay, pregnant women, young families, couples hoping to adopt, and people who require outpatient therapy. With rising costs of items like fuel and potential state budget cuts, the center is appreciative of FNCB’s help.

“We would like to thank FNCB for initiating this project to help raise funds for St. Joe’s,” said Sister Maryalice Jacquinot, IHM, Saint Joseph’s Center President and CEO. “It means a lot to us that an organization with a strong presence in our community like FNCB wants to support us.”

“FNCB’s reusable bags are one component of the community bank’s commitment to sustainability. In 2011, an employee “Green Team” was formed to look for ways the bank could make an environmental impact on an individual, department, bank wide or community level.

So far, it has been a big success.

Green Team initiatives have resulted in over 4,000 pounds of shredded office paper being recycled, a reduction in overall paper usage by simplifying processes and even the elimination disposable cups in break rooms. Additionally, energy efficient lighting was installed at numerous locations resulting in a significant reduction of electricity usage.

“We believe strongly that as a leader in the local community, FNCB has a responsibility to consider more than its own impact on the environment,” said FNCB President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Tokach. “We must also help raise awareness about the many ways a business can be more environmentally conscious. Selling the reusable bags and reducing our own carbon footprint are a few of the steps FNCB has taken that demonstrates our commitment to the environment.”

First National Community Bank
Dunmore, Pa.
$1.1 billion in assets

Indiana Bankers Association Aids Tornado Victims

The Indiana Bankers Association (IBA) has partnered with New Hope Services Inc. to establish a disaster relief fund to aid victims of the March 2 tornadoes that devastated communities in southern Indiana. Partnering with New Hope, a Jeffersonville-based community services organization, allows funds to be collected on a tax-deductible basis, incorporating IRS compliance services.

“At New Hope we want to do everything we can to help our community and people in need” said President and CEO of New Hope Services James Bosley. “We work every day to provide services responsive to individual needs and when the need in our community is as great as it is right now we must do our part to help these families recover and offer assistance in any way we can.”

IBA’s executive committee authorized a $5,000 donation from the IBA to seed the fund, and each committee member has pledged to financially support the relief effort personally. IBA Chairman Pat Glotzbach will help in the distribution of the dollars collected to assist the residents of the affected communities. The entire tax-deductible contribution will go to help those in need.

Indiana Bankers Association
Jeffersonville, Ind.

A Grateful Mother Thanks MidWestOne Bank for Making her Family’s Home Affordable

A mother in Iowa, who had been struggling to make mortgage payments, has been able to refinance her family’s home with the help of a MidWestOne employee, who she called an “answer to our prayers.”

This grateful MidWestOne customer sent an e-mail to the bank’s President and CEO Charlie Funk expressing her appreciation.

“My daughter and I, both, fell on very hard times,” she wrote. “My husband passed due to cancer and my daughter was having a hard time making her house payments because of the income to bill ratio. [One of your employees] proved to be our answer to our prayers. He has worked diligently for several months to try to make this more affordable for both [of us]. He is very compassionate and understanding and has a plethora of information about the banking and mortgage industry. He has made the transition to the new mortgage more affordable and, to be honest, with very little stress on our part.”

MidWestOne Bank
Iowa City, Iowa
$1.68 billion in assets

Alabama Bank Receives Award for Revitalizing its Community

Bryan Bank has received an ABA Award for its response to the devastation in Alabama after 63 tornados hit the state one day last April. The bank’s staff banded together to assist in its effected communities and rebuild the destroyed areas through manual labor, manning soup kitchens and fundraising phone lines and hosting donation stations, among many other initiatives.

“There was no doubt in my mind that our bankers would rise to the occasion to help our community in its tragic time of need. I’m so very proud of all of them. It’s no different than what they do every day, volunteering in so many ways in our communities across the state. Our bankers truly have the heart, spirit and dedication that defines us as a community bank,” said Paul W. Bryant Jr, Bryant Bank Chairman.

In the days immediately following the storms, Bryant Bankers went out into the community to help in every possible way. Water, food and supplies were distributed on foot due to impassable roads. Some bankers took their chainsaws to clear trees, while others hauled debris and placed tarps on roofs. The immediate response was not an orchestrated event; rather it was a reaction to an innate call to do the right thing for the communities the Bank serves.

Bryant Bank
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
$945 million in assets

Mississippi Bank Awarded for Reaching Out to the Underserved

BankPlus in Mississippi has recived an outstanding leadership award for its CreditPlus program, which is a unique loan product designed to help improve a person’s credit and get consumers on the right track to a more sound financial future. This wide encompassing program that caters to the many Mississippians that are unbanked or underbanked also offers comprehensive financial education programs.

BankPlus
Ridgeland, Miss.
$2 billion in assets