14 Hoosier Banker January 2015 Continued from page 13. rescue, as well as grain bin safety and rescue, allowing the public to see how life-saving equipment works. Bath State Bank also donated to a county fund that provides monetary assistance for officers and volunteers to seek help for mental anguish following tragedies. Community First Bank of Indiana, Kokomo, partnered with a local university to offer a student the opportunity to make a half court shot, three pointer or free throw for a scholarship during half-time of every home basketball game. Students were chosen by the university, usually through a social media initiative. The bank plans to repeat the event in 2015. The Farmers Bank, Frankfort, coordinated with Frankfort Community School Corp. by assisting with a pilot program that has employees from local businesses come to schools weekly to read to second graders. Local businesses sign up to send employees once a week for two 15-minute sessions each with two students. Each employee reads to the same student for the entire school year. Nearly 40 bank employees signed up as primary or back-up volunteers. Farmers State Bank, LaGrange, partners with the Everfi company to provide financial literacy to junior and senior high school students. Everfi’s Web-based program features modules covering topics including savings, banking, credit scores, financing higher education, renting versus owning, taxes and insurance. The bank funds the program for three area schools. First Federal Savings Bank, Huntington, has supported the Parkview Boys & Girls Club of Huntington County in working toward its capital campaign goal of raising $3.5 million. The funds will be used to build a new facility to serve the youth of Huntington County. The Zahn family and First Federal Savings Bank made a combined donation of $115,000 toward the new facility, to be located on East State Street. First Harrison Bank, Corydon, supports of Relay For Life in the counties in which the bank serves. Each year bank staff raise over $20,000 through branch activities to support Relay For Life. The bank has raised the most money in Harrison County for more than 10 years. First Merchants Bank, NA, Muncie, partnered with United Way offices and myfreetaxes.com to support tax payers learning to file their own taxes. Bank employees manned a customer service line for people needing assistance and volunteered at numerous sites. First State Bank of Middlebury partnered with the Elkhart campus of The Crossing to teach a nineweek financial literacy course to a class of high school students. Most students at The Crossing are from low- to moderate-income, single-parent families. The vision of the crossing is to transform lives through education by focusing on the heart and mind. Fowler State Bank held a program called Go Pink on each Friday in October. Employees had the opportunity to pay to wear jeans if they also wore pink. Since Halloween fell on a Friday, bank staff was given the option to dress up. Pictures of each employee were taken and put out with jars in our lobby for customers to vote. The bank raised $1,852 and gave the funds to a local cancer fund. The bank also supported a girls’ high school basketball team for its Breast Cancer Awareness game by purchasing shirts for both participating teams, and held a donation drive on the day of the game. The Friendship State Bank operates a swirling cash machine at a local three-day festival, the Versailles Pumpkin Show. The bank matches the amount that contestants are able to capture from the machine with a donation to the local American Red Cross. The activity was able to spread the Red Cross message to festival-goers, as well as raise $700 in 2014. iAB Financial Bank, Fort Wayne, partnered with three community organizations in October for iCare Day, created to commemorate the anniversary of the bank. The day allowed employees to demonstrate commitment to community by spending a work day assisting nonprofit organizations in communities served by the bank. iAB Financial Bank partnered with Allen County’s Habitat for Humanity to complete the building of a new home through light construction, painting and cleaning. The bank also assisted Indiana Dream Center to organize donated items at one location and to do cleanup and repair at a second locaThe Farmers Bank, Frankfort First State Bank of Middlebury Fowler State Bank First Federal Savings Bank, Huntington
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