Independent Banker - November 2021 - 72

WE WANTED TO
HONOR OUR
HERITAGE BY
MAKING SURE THAT
NOT ONLY DID WE
NOT BACK OFF FROM
CHARITABLE GIVING,
BUT THAT WE
CONTINUED TO DO
IT IN THE FUTURE. "
-JOHN FINCH, ULSTER SAVINGS BANK
WEWANT
HONORO
Tom Gdowski
and Pamela L.
Price of Equitable
Bank tour the
Stuhr Museum.
applications, " she says. " Someone who
can call a colleague at a nonprofi t in
the area and verify the organization
and program helps. We don't want to
invest in something that's not going to
make it. "
Foundations should seek board
members who represent the
communities the bank serves. Ulster
Savings Bank, which has a nine-person
board, operates in three counties in
New York and makes it a point to have
all three counties represented on the
board. " Often, they know more about
the organizations that we get requests
from, " Finch says.
In addition, about half of the Ulster
Savings Charitable Foundation board
members are working bank offi cers,
which ensures that the foundation
targets local needs. " The offi cers
provide feedback from the trenches, "
Finch says.
Marling suggests a foundation's
board needs to have a link back to the
bank's board. In Woodforest Bank's
case, Marling, who serves on both
boards, is that link.
" It provides the continuity to
our bank board about how the
foundation is doing, " he says. " We
like the bank to write us a check
every year, so it's important for the
How one community bank's foundation
is preserving local history
The Stuhr Museum in Grand Island, Neb., isn't your typical museum.
Consisting of 107 modern and historic buildings spread across 206
acres, the museum gives visitors an immersive experience inside
the world of 19th century prairie pioneers. A railroad town covers
four city blocks and includes a blacksmith shop, tinsmith shop
and planning mill. The museum hosts more than 60,000 visitors
annually, including 13,000 school children.
" It's one of the leading living history museums in the country, "
says Pamela L. Price, chairman of Grand Island, Neb.-based
Equitable Bank's Equitable Charitable Foundation board, which
has donated to the museum since 2006. " Their projects are so
interesting, and people come from all across the country. "
The foundation's donations have helped fund the restoration
and preservation of a number of museum structures, including the
Leo B. Stuhr Building, a historically designated structure originally
designed by renowned architect Edward Durell Stone.
With 107 buildings, Stuhr Museum has to replace a lot of roofs.
So, between 2018 and 2019, the museum ran a Raise the Roof
campaign. Equitable Bank stepped in with a donation.
" Stuhr Museum is woven into the fabric of our community, " says
Bonnie Smith, the museum's executive director. " Without Stuhr, our
history disappears. We provide the pivotal link from where we came
from to who we are today. Equitable's funding has been instrumental
in moving our operations forward. We are a private entity held in
public trust, and without organizational support, we simply would
not exist. "
72 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q November 2021
Independent Banker - November 2021

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