In August, 1st Source Bank joined several other organizations to volunteer at the United Way Day of Caring event. 1st Source colleagues spent the day helping Neighbors’ Educational Opportunities (NEO) in the completion of their new location. The concerted effort on the part of the team at 1st Source to give back in the community is just one of the many ways in which the bank is working to better the communities that they serve.
“This was our 6th year participating in the Day of Caring,” said 1st Source Bank’s Jayne Cooper, who is a United Way Board Member and was leading the 1st Source Bank team during the day’s events.
“I pick a different organization every year so that our team can learn about different agencies and not-for-profits,” Cooper said. “In the past we’ve done work at Hilltop House, Housing Opportunities, Opportunity Enterprises and with a number of different organizations. I picked Neighbors Education Opportunities (NEO) this year because we had a relationship with them and they have had a pretty big project that worked well with our big team of 15.”
Cooper and Matt Vessely, Regional President at 1st Source Bank, were amazed and delighted to see all of the other volunteers out helping NEO at this year’s Day of Caring event.
“It just came together nicely,” added Vessely. “Jayne was aware that we had financed their project and believed in what they were doing. That, coupled with the fact that we had a big team that was looking for a big project, meant it just came together and worked very well.”
While volunteering and getting more involved in the community isn’t by any means mandatory, Cooper works to identify what agencies or organizations 1st Source Bank employees work with and are passionate about.
“We’re all very heavily involved,” Cooper said. “The first thing I find out from people is, ‘what’s your passion, what do you want to do?’ There isn’t a manager who isn’t involved on some level and a lot our employees are very heavily involved in everything from coaching softball and baseball to board and leadership roles in many organizations throughout La Porte and Porter County.”
One of 1st Source Bank’s core values is community leadership and because of that there is an expectation to go out and have a positive impact on the community in which you live and work.
“Whether they’re leading formally by being on a board or through leading the charge in a volunteer way, they’re trying to make the community a better place somehow,” said Vessely.
A great example of how involved 1st Source Bank is in the community can be seen through the number of hours spent volunteering by the bank’s staff over the period of one year. In 2015, region colleagues logged 4002 volunteer hours in our communities.
There’s always something going on in the community and 1st Source has made it an important part of their mission to have someone from the bank involved in those nonprofits and organizations, in both big and small ways.
“It’s a commitment that we’ve made and our colleagues have been living it,” Vessely said. “In the history of 1st Source Bank it’s been consistent and 1st Source was founded on the principle of serving and believing that the bank is a reflection of the community, and giving back is a really important part of that.”
Another aspect of the positive impact that 1st Source Bank is having in Northwest Indiana is through their charitable giving and donations. In 2015, 1st Source donated more than $260K to nonprofit organizations in the Valparaiso Region (La Porte and Porter County).
“Sometimes it’s a small amount that has a lot of impact and other times it’s a larger amount,” Cooper said. “Donations can range in size. Each one has a large impact and what we can do to give back and be a good neighbor is very important.”
The communities and organizations that 1st Source Bank tries to reach is vast and there are few, if any, areas in Porter and La Porte Counties that the bank hasn’t tried to have a presence in to help raise the quality of life in the region.
To find out more about all the great things 1st Source Bank is involved in, click here!
