Bank of America Invests in Local Community Leaders

Big banks have had their share of misery in the Great Recession that can't end soon enough.

You know the story -- mortgages gone wild, multiplying foreclosures, company failures, government-forced action, CEO depar TOM
SILVESTRI
tures, tighter regulation, and a much different, financially scarred world in which to operate.

But the other side of community banking was on full display Oct. 22 on the 18th floor of the Bank of America Center in downtown Richmond. It's the angle where investments in organizations and people make a big difference.

Bank of America does not have its headquarters here. But through mergers and consolidations, it maintains a sizable presence in the capital region. You see its name ablaze at night atop one of the tall buildings in the urban business district. And because of that business here, Richmond is included in the Charlotte, N.C.-based corporation's Neighborhood Excellence Initiative Awards.

Thank goodness.

The 3-year-old program has a noble premise of strengthening communities where Bank of America operates so they're better places to live and work. Some of that strength comes in recognizing nonprofit organizations that are providing key roles and services that neither government nor businesses are able to adequately fulfill.

Additional fortitude comes from the sweat of motivated volunteers who see problems that must be confronted and are willing to spend their time fixing them. But all the passion in the world can fall short without money that turns charitable ideas into community victories. Corporate grants accelerate results.

The Bank of America program to "celebrate the heart of Richmond" is a smart concept. It recognizes the past, present, and future of a community striving to improve, uniting those who have achieved, those emerging with vision to succeed, and those who are the next wave of advocates.

At a two-plus-hour ceremony, five "local heroes" were saluted for diverse records of service and allowed to send a $5,000 grant from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation to an eligible nonprofit organization.

They are: retired Army Col. Robert C. Barrett of Colonial Heights for "an extraordinary record of community service," including the Quartermaster Museum's educational outreach program attended by more than 18,000 youths in only three years (the Army Quartermaster Foundation at Fort Lee receives the grant); Laura Lee Chandler, who has "vitally contributed to several organizations that reach a broad segment of the Richmond community" (the YWCA of Richmond receives the grant); Dr. Monroe E. Harris for a "long history of giving his time and resources to support the growth and development of Richmond's youth" (United Negro College Fund receives the grant); Jennifer Jones, a parent volunteer who "for more than 20 years . . . has organized the backstage life of children dancing in ballet performances of The Nutcracker, Minds in Motion, and the School of Richmond Ballet year-end performances" (Richmond Ballet receives the grant); and the Rev. Andrew J. White, pastor of Zion Baptist Church for 46 years, who "has committed his life to helping, nourishing, changing, motivating, and uplifting the church, his congregation, individuals, and groups within the Petersburg community" (The Children's Home of Virginia Baptist Inc. receives the grant).

Next, two organizations working hard on a better today were celebrated as Neighborhood Builders -- the homeless response mobilizer CARITAS (Congregations Around Richmond Involved To Assure Shelter), whose executive director is Karen Stanley; and the Get Lost MD Foundation, which trains people with cognitive and physical disabilities to work in the food service industry and is better known as the Positive Vibe Café. Its executive director is Garth Larcen.

Each receives $200,000 in unrestricted funds, but the neat twist is that both Stanley and Larcen also will participate in a strategic leadership development program to perfect skills and techniques required in their demanding jobs.

The future is connected by elevating a select group of high-schoolers who secure summer internships and participate in a weeklong Student Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C., to "develop their understanding of how government, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector partner to create positive change."

Jimmie Bullock of Prince George High School, Dana Cypress of Lee-Davis High School, Kimara Davis of Franklin Military Academy, Naveed Faziani of Mills Godwin High School, and Michael Harrison of George Wythe High School all described how the program better prepared them for the future and how much they valued the opportunity to learn how a community could progress.

"Next year, I'm going to be in the real world," Harrison, a senior, said to nodding heads and understanding laughter in the packed room.

All of the award winners were eloquent in their short acceptance remarks. In particular, Dr. Harris, an oral surgeon, talked about how he was helped along the way -- to the point where he was able to mentor a student who today is a first-year resident studying to become a doctor as well. "Touch somebody in your life," he implored.

After hearing the heroes' inspiring stories, the bank's Richmond president, Gary M. Gore, turned to his senior vice presidents, Victor Branch and Theresa Swann, and remarked: We need to find a way "to add a zero" to the grant checks next year.

Because of my job, I am invited to many awards ceremonies to cheer deserving winners. All merit applause, but the Bank of America neighborhood program is one of the best. Other "out-of-towners" would do well to follow your lead.

Tom Silvestri is president and publisher of the Richmond Times-Dispatch and leader of the Richmond Media Group, which includes TimesDispatch.com and Richmond.com. He can be reached at (804) 649-6121 or .