Mountain West Bank celebrates community service
Mountain West Bank Ramsey branch manager Arshia Mullen helps organize donations at Newby-ginnings veterans services in Post Falls.
COEUR d'ALENE — Employees from 11 Mountain West Bank offices in North Idaho and Eastern Washington recently volunteered to help nine charitable and public organizations in the region complete projects.
In Spokane, Wash., bank employees cleaned and painted interiors at the Boys & Girls Club of Spokane County's Northtown Club and conducted indoor and outdoor cleaning at Family Promise of Spokane emergency family shelter.
Mountain West Bank volunteers hung exterior OSB sheathing at a new Habitat for Humanity home in Coeur d'Alene. In Post Falls, they helped clean and organize donations at Newby-ginnings veterans services.
"We really have nothing but gratitude for Mountain West Bank," Habitat for Humanity of North Idaho executive director James Casper said, in a news release. "There are a lot of things that we would not be able to do if it wasn't for their support. It's really made us more capable and more effective in doing what we're doing. For many people in the community we're the last opportunity to be able to buy a home."
At Osburn City Park in Shoshone County, bank employees assembled and installed five benches, sanded and repainted two picnic tables, and planted flowers in pots and placed them throughout the park. They also dug post holes for sun shade sails that will screen the fitness court and playground.
In Sandpoint, bank staff helped clear trails, prune trees and remove seedlings at Kaniksu Land Trust's Pine Street Woods and Sled Hill.
"We have something in the order of 20, 000 visits a year to our much beloved Pine Street Woods Community Forest," Regan Plumb, Kaniksu Land Trust conservation director, said in the release. "It gets a lot of use, it figures highly in a lot of people's lives, and we're so grateful to have this group out here today to help us keep the meadow a meadow."
Bank staff sorted household items for Hope House of Boundary County in Moyie Springs.
"At Mountain West Bank we take advantage of opportunities like this to volunteer and give back to our communities," Mountain West CEO Scott Anderson said. "We're certainly mindful of the great things that our communities do for our bank and the loyal customers that we have. This is an opportunity for us to give back."
Mountain West Bank volunteers also helped clean and prep for a fundraiser at Hope Reins Foundation in Athol, and helped clean and organize at the Kaniksu Village Apartments in Metaline Falls, Wash.
"I couldn't do this work without volunteers," CEO and director of Hope Reins Foundation Christina Hartin said. "There are 25 people from the bank here this morning doing the things that as a nonprofit we can't do on our own. We are incredibly grateful that we've been able to provide a beautiful environment for our clients and a clean environment for our horses and a healthy safe place for our volunteers and our staff."
Bank employees find their volunteerism satisfying, too.
"Personally, it's just rewarding," Ann Thomas, a Mountain West Bank vice president and professional banking manager, said. "It's a fun opportunity for us to be out of the bank as a team working on something that we're all passionate about and giving back to the community. It really does feel good."
