SHEFFIELD – School may be out for the summer, but Bank Independent is launching its 10th annual School Share drive next week.
The “$5 Helps Carry the Cost” campaign to benefit local school children starts Monday. The bank will accept school supplies and donations at all locations, by PayPal and through scheduled collection events until July 14. Bank Independent works with partner organizations across its seven-county footprint to ensure donations are distributed to area families.
The 2022 School Share drive collected and distributed nearly $17,000 in cash donations and more than 19,000 school supply items. Over the last nine years, School Share has created a financial impact of over $250,000 in the community.
“Our ‘$5 Helps Carry the Cost’ campaign is a great reminder that a little can go a long way to make a big impact,” said Hallie Mauldin, Community Engagement leader at Bank Independent. “Whether you can drop off school supplies, or take a moment to donate to the drive, we’ll ensure your donations make a positive difference in the community.”
Bank Independent will also match total customer Smart Swipe savings up $10,000 until July 14 and donate that amount to School Share partner organizations. Smart Swipe is a savings plan that rounds up change from Bank Independent debit card purchases to the next dollar and deposits the difference into another BI account of the customer’s choosing. Customers can enroll in Smart Swipe at any location, online at bibank.com, or through Customer Service.
“Our customers are invested in serving the community, and particularly rally around causes that affect children,” said CEO Rick Wardlaw. “Removing obstacles to education by providing basic school supplies makes a big impact.”
“The added Smart Swipe pledge allows our customers to invest in themselves, while encouraging them to make a positive impact to School Share.”
The school supplies are distributed through local organizations in each market including Committee on Church Cooperation in Decatur, Sidney’s Safe! Foundation in the Shoals, the Department of Human Resources in Franklin, Lawrence and Limestone counties and Free 2 Teach in Huntsville.
School Share is part of Bank Independent’s Helping Hands program, which includes team member volunteer efforts, donations and sponsorships. Other Share drives include Toy Share to collect toys for children during the holiday season, Shelter Share to benefit animal shelters, and Food Share to collect non-perishable food items.
Helping Hands was inspired by employee requests for organized volunteer opportunities after the April 27, 2011 tornadoes. Since then, Bank Independent employees have donated more than 10,000 hours in paid volunteer time to community efforts.
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