and we also encourage our officers and staff to be involved in the communities that we live in.” A TRUE COMMUNITY PARTNER Employees of Great American Bank contribute in countless ways, from volunteering at churches, schools, and hospitals to participating in the Midtown KC Now and other community initiatives. Matthew Little, Senior Vice President, CFO, and CIO, shares, “The De Soto community we serve did not have a food pantry, and a community member stepped up to start one. We supported one of our local officers in joining the board to get that food pantry up and running.” Today, the bank continues its support with an in branch donation bin for customers and community members. Great American Bank also runs back to school supply drives every August as well as a Christmas program to help families in need. Sarah Schmitt, Senior Vice President of Branch Operations, recounts,“We adopt several families within each branch, and the bank will support some funding to go out and do some big shopping for the families. Last year, we had a total of ten families that we supported within our five branches.” This community focus even extends into local classrooms through the Junior Achievement program, which teaches financial literacy to different grade levels.“Several of our staff have been providing time within the classrooms for many years,” notes Schmitt. “I recall teaching a kindergarten class about how to count cash. We carried that all the way up through eighth grade where we did a whole segment on balancing a chequebook, having a savings account, and what it means to budget.” Dreiling, who was recently inducted into the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame, adds, “The Junior Achievement Program here has been around for several years, and it’s exceptional. We provide financial support, and we’ve got a number of officers here that provide their time in teaching, not only at the elementary level, but all the way through high school, where there’s an entrepreneurship type program in the school systems that helps to develop tomorrow’s future leaders.” 95 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 12, ISSUE 11 GREAT AMERICAN BANK
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTI5MjAx