Investing in non-profits

On March 15 the student council for Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) High School was presented with a check for $460 from the Bank of Commerce (BOC).

The HEM student council was chosen by the employees of BOC for the donation because they contribute half the funds and BOC matches the money.

Copper France, president and CEO of the bank, said this is done monthly and has been going on since 2018.

"I used to have employees that used to come to me regularly on Friday and say, 'Can we wear jeans on Friday?'", France said. "It was just one of those things that it seemed like every Friday they wanted to wear jeans. So I decided every Friday they could wear jeans if they earned it, so to speak. Nobody was required to wear jeans but, if they did, they had to contribute at least $2 into a pot and, at the end of the month, the bank would match what was in the pot."

France told the staff they would nominate and then vote on who gets the money.

"Usually we target a non-profit," France said. "It really sort of originated when the city of Rawlins pulled a lot of their funding for budgetary reasons from some non-profits. We knew many depending on this funding, so we wanted to help. Also we didn't want to just isolate our donations to the city of Rawlins."

France said the BOC staff serves all of Carbon County and it was important to his employees to include all of Carbon County in this program.

"So we just didn't limit it to Rawlins," France said. "We are truly a Carbon County bank and our goal is to support the communities and give back to them."

The BOC president said most of his employees give more than the $2 minimum.

"I have employees that throw in $20 or $30 every single month into the pot just to make it go a little further," France said. "Its nice. Fridays are little more casual and relaxed and something good is coming out of that day."

France said the range is broad to what groups get the donation.

"All across the county we have given to organizations like the FFA, 4-H and pre-school," France said. "We try to hit all the communities to let them know how much we appreciate what these organizations do in their communities," France said. "Sometimes these non-profits and small organizations, like a student council, don't get the recognition for all the good things they are doing. That is why we try to identify these non-profits and have the employees vote. I have to say they have been really good about spreading it across the county."

France said the monthly donation runs between $400 to $500 .

"Its not a lot of money in today's terms," France said. "But to these non-profits and small organizations it really helps."

That is important to France.

"We have been blessed as a bank to do well and its one of the things we enjoy doing, is giving back to the community.," France said. "We're just happy to be able do it. "

The HEM student council was glad for the recognition.

Jolynn Borah and Charla Widdison make up the student council currently.

"It means a lot," Borah said. "It gives us a chance to show the students that we can do more to help them. This money will help fund our incentive trip that students work hard all year long and to know their efforts are worth it."

Widdison agrees the check will help the student population appreciate the worth of a student council.

"This donations means it can show what can be achieved," Widdison said. "The council isn't large right now because Covid changed things a lot."

The student council plans activities and dances for the school. The past couple years, it has been hard for the student council because there had been a lot of uncertainty. Both girls feel the check will help draw attention to the council.

"The kids hear us do the morning announcements," Borah said. "They don't know what we do behind the scenes."

"We planned the homecoming assembly, the activities at games and we plan little treats where we can," Widdison said. "We work a lot on the incentive trips."

Borah agreed with Widdison on how hard they worked on the incentive trips.

"We are trying to make them the best they can be," Borah said. "Then students feel all their hard work does have rewards."

The both agreed the work they did kept school spirt alive especially after coming out of the Covid times.

France was pleased to give the check to the students.

"It feels great to give it to these kids who are volunteering their time to lead their school. This is a great opportunity to let them know the hard work does have results," France said. "It is something that is good for us, good for the community and I think that is what makes small towns great."