American Savings Bank pleasantly surprised by national honor for giving to schools
- Jenna Blakely[1]
- General Assignment Reporter- Pacific Business News
- This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.[2] | Twitter[3]
American Savings Bank[4] was the only Hawaii bank that earned a spot on a national list of 20 financial institutions recognized for community service in education, an award from GoBankingRates.com[5] that the Honolulu-based bank hadn’t even applied for.
Aulii Graf[6], director of community relations, said the bank learned it had won after seeing it publicized in the media.
“We stumbled on the award; we didn’t even know we won,” Graf said. “The thrilling part of it is that we are in the middle of our ‘Bank for Education’ campaign right now, and it is going off the charts since the last time we ran it. We started it in 2010 with the purpose of finding a way to contribute much needed dollars to our Hawaii schools.”
California-based GoBankingRates.com[7] had wanted to start an awards program recognizing banks that specifically give back to education because of the ripple effect that education and financial literacy has in strengthening local economies.
“Banks and credit unions were selected according to information provided to us by institutions as well as heavy research around which institutions are currently focusing community service efforts on education,” GobankingRates.com Managing Editor Casey Bond[8] said in an email. “The 20 institutions chosen were the ones we found to be making a measurable impact in this area.”
American Savings Bank was recognized for its “Bank for Education” program[9] that helps raise funds for local schools. The bank has given more than $600,000 to local schools since it started the program in 2010.
Schools that participate in the campaign, which runs until Dec. 13, try to get the most “designations.” American Savings Bank will donate up to $20 for each primary accountholder who designates the money to the school of their choice, and the bank will give $10 for those who open new checking accounts and $10 for those who complete their first mobile check deposit. The schools that receive the most “designations” will get grants of $50,000 each, and additional $10,000 grants are available to schools with the most designations from each of the island’s four counties.
“After week four, of our 12 week campaign, we are already at 830 designations, collectively,” Graf added. “Last time we ran a campaign, at the end of 2011, we had 122 designations after week four.”
References
- ^ Jenna Blakely (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Twitter (twitter.com)
- ^ American Savings Bank (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ GoBankingRates.com (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Aulii Graf (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ GoBankingRates.com (www.gobankingrates.com)
- ^ Casey Bond (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ its “Bank for Education” program (www.asbhawaii.com)