A significant portion of the profits that banks earn ends up supporting nonprofits in the communities where they earned those profits, both through the charitable foundations they established and their employees volunteering time at nonprofit organizations.
For Trish Gelsomino at Home Savings Bank, “It’s the fun part of the job,” she says.
Each December, Gelsomino, branch manager of the bank’s downtown office and community liaison for the Home Savings Charitable Foundation, enjoys going to the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley. She and other employees donate wrapped blankets to those in the shelter, decorate the Rescue Mission for Christmas and serve lunch at the shelter.
“It’s the best way to experience Christmas at that time,” Gelsomino says, “and they really appreciate it.”
The foundation was established in 1998 after The Home Savings and Loan Co. went public. It supports 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations that submit grant requests.
“We pay special attention to basic human needs: children’s development, education and safety, financial literacy and economic development,” says Frank Hierro, Mahoning Valley president of Home Savings.
Since its inception, the charitable foundation has awarded $16 million. The grants have benefited more than 200 organizations in the region.
One of the foundation’s most substantial commitments in 2017 was to United Way of Youngstown and Mahoning Valley’s campaign that focuses on early-education initiatives and after-school programs in seven local schools.
“We committed $100,000 in 2017 so they could expand beyond their initial number of schools,” Hierro says. “The financial component is important but the man-hours and the support are as important.”
Through the United Way program, Hierro volunteers as a “report card mentor.” He sits down with the same eight kids at the end of each grading period and goes over their report cards with them.
“I absolutely enjoy it,” he says. “It’s rewarding. We mentor and encourage them, and potentially provide them some incentives for improving from [grade] period to period.”
Banks in the Mahoning Valley work “on all levels” with the United Way, says its president, Bob Hannon.
“Every major bank in the area has someone sitting on our board or volunteering in our schools,” he says. “And most of the banks give at three different levels: through corporate, foundation gifts and employee giving.”
Huntington Bank committed in 2017 to adopt the McGuffey elementary school on Youngstown’s east side by donating $50,000 to support United Way’s after-school program there. To read the full story from The Business Journal, click here.
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