By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
There are organizations that help area communities thrive. Then there are the organizations that make that help possible. Sunflower Bank recently donated nearly $80,000 to non-profits in five states, including Kansas. Sunflower Bank Community Development Officer Becca Maxwell said that included two organizations in Great Bend.
"This is the very first year we were able to do the Community Partner Award in this capacity," she said. "We actually let our employees vote, so they had the empowerment to choose which recipients receive the money. Organizations were nominated both by Sunflower Bank employees and the public."
Sunflower gave the Family Crisis Center $5,000 for the In the Lives We Touch Award. Another $3,000 was given to United Way of Central Kansas for the Bringing Out the Best Award. Catholic Charities of Northern Kansas, which serves 31 counties including Russell and Ellsworth, received the top donation of $15,000.
"We want to make sure we are meeting the credit needs and supporting our communities," Maxwell said. "We want to recognize those outstanding organizations and individuals in our communities, especially throughout the year, then again with this Community Partner Award. This program aims to support ongoing community projects, and it's just great to be able to assist organizations in our communities by doing this each year."
Sunflower employees and members of the public were able to nominate organizations in Kansas, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico from Oct. 11 through Nov. 13. A total of 17 non-profits received donations.