Bank It Raises a Total of $10,230.86 For Two Local Organizations
(January 11, 2019) ALVA, OK - The Alva Robotics Team and The Cherokee Strip Museum were selected as Bank It’s second and third quarter visions for 2018.
From April through June 2018, Bank It, the community of Alva and local participating banks raised $4,603.42 to go towards The Alva Robotics Team, “Technic Gold.” The team used the funds to prepare for and to compete in the Heartland BEST Current Event competition. The BEST competition is a six-week event that begins in September of each year and concludes at the end of October. The team receives a kit of equipment and materials from Northwestern Oklahoma State University at the beginning of the season, but to compete successfully requires the team to raise funds from the community. For the 2018 season, the team of fifteen middle school and five high school students used the funds supplied by Bank It prepare for the Heartland BEST competition that took place in October. The team must design a t-shirt, create a booth filled with highlights of their building process, design marketing materials and report on their fundraising strategy. They also had to design and build a robot that could complete a set number of tasks on the playing field and their team had to create a mascot and cheer section for the day of competition. The funds from Bank It helped the team purchase all of the items needed, including lumber and supplies to build a portion of the game field to test the robot on before game day, paint and painting supplies for the marketing booth, posters for the interior of the booth, team spirit posters and items, tools to use to build prototypes and the robot. The team was successful at the competition, making it all the way to the semi-finals.
From July through September, Bank It, the community of Alva and local participating banks raised $5,627.44 for The Cherokee Strip Museum. The funds donated to the museum went towards restoring and remodeling of the Cedar Grove Church. This project was the focus of their fundraising and grants for the last year and a half. The Bank It contributions have help them reach their goals. The new ceiling and flooring have been installed so the old pews are back in place, a piano has been donated, the old podium has been restored and the new sound system is ready. The Cedar Grove Church addition was able to celebrate the first wedding in their restored building on November 30, 2018.
In 2018 The Bank It Organization, along with community contributors and participating local banks were able to raise $31, 032 for their four chosen visions. They were also able to help financially with two positive community events by issuing mini grants. These events include: The Goldbug Gulp and Gallop and Wings Over the Prairie. Additionally, Bank It granted $3,505 from their rainy day fund for hospital bills and travel expenses for two community members battling cancer in 2018. The Bank It program makes it easy to stay involved and make a difference in your community. This year’s CommUNITY visions were recently decided by the Bank It board and will be announced soon. For more information visit, www.ahabitofhelping.com
Bank It is a 501(C)3 charitable organization to bring citizens together in support of the Northwest Oklahoma CommUNITY and to help people and projects in need. Through quarterly commUNITY visions, approved formal requests and the Rainy Day Fund for Families in crisis, Bank It collects and distributes funds and items, providing aid to organizations and individuals in need.
