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KENNEBEC SAVINGS BANK EMPLOYEES INSPIRED BY AN 8-YEAR OLD CUSTOMER'S COMMITMENT TO HAITI RELIEF
Kennebec Savings Bank employees were so inspired by an 8-year old customer’s commitment to Haiti relief, that they mounted an internal campaign that raised over $3,000 for the relief effort.
When Eleanor (Ellie) Cui Hodgkin came in last week to have literally hundreds of dollars in coins counted from a fundraiser she had conducted, she had already had an incredible effect on those who she inspired to give. But, she could not have known the effect that she would have at her own bank.
William S. Hill, Kennebec Savings Bank’s Regional Vice President, helped to arrange time for Ellie to come into the bank to get her coins counted. “Her family has banked with us for a long time and Ellie has her own accounts, too.” He said. “It was interesting enough that an 8-year old was coming in with almost her weight in loose change,” he continued. “It was even more interesting when she told us her story.”
It started one evening following the earthquake in Haiti. Ellie and her father Dana Hodgkin, were paging through the news on the internet. Ellie saw the devastation in Haiti and told her father that she needed to help. Dana agreed to get the funds to the relief effort if Ellie would commit to doing the fundraising. The rest is history.
A good fundraiser knows that you can only sell others when you believe yourself, and Ellie and her younger sister, Grace made the first donations to the effort, with $10 and $3 consecutively. The external campaign started at the family’s church, St. Andrew’s in Readfield, where Ellie had immediate success. She then built upon that, bringing the idea to her school, Manchester Elementary, and pitching the project to her teacher and others. An additional pitch to employees at her mom’s work, Pierce Atwood, was the icing on the cake and her total raised neared $1,000.
Hill asked Ellie why she was doing this and she said, “If I was in Haiti right now, I’d be very glad to get this money.”
“This was quite a project,” said Regional Vice President, William S. Hill, who assisted Ellie at the Bank. “She got her whole school involved and learned a lot about fundraising through the process,” he said.
When Ellie’s story made its way through the halls of Kennebec Savings Bank, the affect was intense. Employees mounted a two-day campaign that raised $1,200 which was matched dollar for dollar by the Bank. Additional donations of $720 that had already been sent by various employees were also matched. Checks totaling $3,120 were sent to Hope for Haiti Now and they were sent because of the inspiration of one caring, daring and tenacious 8-year old named Ellie.
About Kennebec Savings Bank
Kennebec Savings Bank is a $720 million state-chartered mutual savings bank created in 1870 and headquartered in Augusta. With 92 employees, and offices located in Waterville, Winthrop and Gardiner, Kennebec Savings Bank prides itself on being the bank where "the feeling is mutual." It recently earned a five-star rating from BAUERFINANCIAL, the nation’s leading independent bank rating firm, and has received this five-star rating for the past 80 consecutive quarters (20 years running). Five star institutions are considered safe, secure and stable, based on the Bauer ratings. |
