Centier Bank recently presented a $65,000 gift to United Way of NWI, impacting nine United Way agencies across Indiana as part of its annual Workplace Campaign. The donated dollars are a sum gathered by associate contributions and a corporate gift and will impact approximately 600,000 individuals throughout the state, helping serve more than 100 local United Way programs.
For more than 50 years, Indiana United Way Agencies have been working to improve lives across the globe through health, education, and financial stability programs. For the past several years, Centier Bank has partnered with United Way chapters across the state, resulting in the advancement of initiatives designed to impact thousands of families and individuals in need.
The donation supports the United Way organizations in the 11 counties in which Centier serves, including Lake, Porter, La Porte, St. Joseph, Elkhart, Marshall, Allen, Tippecanoe, Boone, Marion, and Hamilton counties.
Anthony Contrucci, President of First Bancshares, Inc., Centier Bank’s parent company, said Centier associates express great enthusiasm given the opportunity to donate to the United Way and look forward to participating in the annual campaign each year, which is another way we strive to enrich lives across the communities that we have the privilege to serve.
“Our passion for the United Way remains strong and I was excited to see that this year’s campaign marks a significant milestone for us,” Contrucci expressed. “What I am most proud of is that this campaign is truly led by our associates. It is their passion and generosity that inspires me! I am blessed to be able to work alongside these caring individuals, the Centier family. It has been fantastic to observe the increase in the associate’s participation rate year after year, and remarkable that this year marks both our highest participation rate and largest dollar contribution in the history of our participation in this impactful campaign.”
Adam O’Doherty President and CEO of United Way of Northwest Indiana, said the United Way of NWI’s Level Up initiative focuses on enhancing educational outcomes, financial stability, and literacy for community members, with over 300 participants and 143 recent graduates experiencing skill advancement and increased wages. Additionally, the program supports career development, job training, and budgeting skills, empowering individuals for economic independence and contributing to breaking the cycle of poverty in the NWI community.
The largest barriers to achieve, O’Doherty said, are breakthroughs in childcare, transportation, and healthcare needs.
“The donation that Centier has made will be instrumental in continuing funding these barriers,” O’Doherty expressed. “Thank you, Centier Bank and all the employees who have contributed to United Way. The Centier family are truly champions of the communities they serve. With the dollars we received, we were able to not only grow our Level Up program, but we were also able to partner with many other agencies to make a direct impact in the communities we serve.”
O’Doherty shared the current return on investment has already generated over $10 million back into the communities which equates to over a 300% return on investment.
“We could not have made this far without the help of each of the Centier associates who pitched in,” he said.
For more information on United Way, go to unitedway.org. For more information on Centier Bank, go to centier.com.
