Giving back to the community: First half of 2019
From January through June of 2019, our employees volunteered 624 hours to various organizations in the communities we serve.
We’re all about giving back to our members. You see this in the form of lower rates on loans, higher yields on deposits and excellent service. We’re also all about giving back to the community whenever possible. With your help, we were able to do some pretty cool things in the first half of 2019.
Sack Lunches, Breakfast Bags and Blessing Bags
In 2019, we’re ramping up our efforts to help out the area homeless. So far, we’ve made 720 sack lunches with 212 extra sandwiches, 160 breakfast bags and 167 hygiene kits. Most of our donations go to St. Patrick Center in downtown St. Louis.
Stuffed Animal Drive
In February, we held our first-ever stuffed animal drive. We collected a total of 1,230 stuffed animals to donate to Stuffed Animals for Emergencies (SAFE), a nonprofit that distributes the toys to emergency workers to give to kids during times of extreme stress.
Diaper Drive
From May through June, we collected a total of 3,683 diapers and wipes and donated them to the St. Louis Area Diaper Bank.
Pet Supply Drive
This March, humans weren’t the only ones celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. We collected a total of 292 pet supply items and donated them to these local charities:
- Belleville Area Humane Society
- Advocates for Animals
- Open Door Animal Sanctuary
- Jefferson County Pet Food Pantry and Thrift Store
Open Door Dog Walking
Not only did our employees donate supplies to pets in need, they spent time with them. In June, six employees from different departments took the time to walk some dogs at Open Door Animal Sanctuary.
Blood Drives
This year, the American Red Cross Bloodmobile made two stops at Arsenal branches – at Swansea in April and Arnold in June. Altogether, we collected a total of 24 pints of blood from 33 potential donors.
If you want to give, visit the Red Cross’ website to find a blood drive near you.
CPR Training
Twice this year, the Rock Community Fire Protection District hosted our employees for CPR training. After the training, employees became CPR and First Aid certified.
Shred Events
In April, we held shred events at four of our branches, collecting a total of 19,990 pounds of paper waste. This was the eleventh year in a row that we hosted shred events.
eRecycling Events
In June, you came out in droves to our eRecycling events at the Florissant and Arnold branches. We collected a total of 28,156 pounds of old, broken and obsolete electronics, preventing them from ending up in landfills.
Financial Education
This year, our Certified Educator in Personal Finance, Jenny Remes, has given 39 classroom presentations, reaching a total of 898 students. In addition to educating in person, we sponsor digital-based financial education through EVERFI at four local high schools.
Jenny also served as a judge at the future Business Leaders of America competition for high school students. Her and Katie Dobbs participated in the St. Louis CAPS program, helping local high school juniors and seniors learn more about high-skill, high-demand careers. In March, we hosted two student interns from St. Mary’s High School.
National Doughnut Day
Okay, so it’s not really a community involvement thing, but we handed out doughnuts at our branches on Friday, June 7. This was just a sweet way to end the blog post.