Bank gives boost to Columbus organizations

Two organizations that serve the Columbus/Bartholomew County community are receiving significant financial boosts for their efforts.

First Financial Bank, which has four branches in Columbus and through a recent merger added branches in Hope and in the Taylorsville/Edinburgh area, is making $100,000 donations to Foundation for Youth and Heritage Fund — The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County.

The gifts were announced during a meet-and-greet event with Cincinnati-based First Financial’s two top executives, Executive Chairman Claude E. Davis and President and Chief Executive Officer Archie Brown Jr., Wednesday night at The Commons.

The donations represent the bank’s commitment to philanthropy in its markets following First Financial’s April 1 merger with Greensburg-based MainSource Bank.

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“We just thought as we start to come together, let’s look at some of our most important communities — certainly Columbus and the area here being one of them — and let’s try to find some things we can do to make a meaningful impact locally,” said Brown, who prior to the merger was MainSource chairman, president and CEO.

Foundation for Youth

Foundation for Youth, 405 Hope Ave. in Columbus, serves children with its many programs, but the costs to participate can be an obstacle for some families with extended needs, said Al Roszczyk, Columbus-based First Financial regional president for Indiana.

First Financial’s donation will provide half of the needed amount for scholarships to ensure children are able to participate.

Foundation for Youth, which was founded 90 years ago, served a record 7,646 Columbus area children last year, according to its annual report. Some of them would have been unable to participate without sponsorships, however.

One of the bank’s missions, to serve low- to moderate income families and individuals, fits well with FFY’s needs, said Roszczyk, who has been an FFY trustee for about 15 years.

“What better place to put our dollars?” he said.

First Financial’s donation to Heritage Fund, 538 Franklin St. in Columbus, is to support its effort to increase the charity’s Community Fund, a pool of unrestricted dollars, and grant-making capacity through The 100 Campaign, which was unveiled last week.

Heritage Fund

Heritage Fund plans to raise $200,000 in The 100 Campaign — half from a handful of longtime supporters donating $10,000 each and the other half from 100 new donors giving $1,000 each.

Heritage Fund will invest the campaign’s funds and a larger pool of assets to grow its grant-making capacity through compound interest and provide funding for projects, programs and nonprofit organizations that address pressing community needs now and in the future, the organization said.

First Financial, which is in the process of establishing the First Financial Foundation, would increase the Heritage Fund’s campaign total to $300,000 with its contribution.

“It’s exciting. It’s a wonderful thing for them to do,” said Tracy Souza, Heritage Fund’s president and CEO.

“The 100 Campaign supports the Community Fund, so this will give great support to the community,” Souza said of First Financial’s donation.

Heritage Fund has provided $134,000 in grants to date this year from its Community Fund, Souza said. Recipients include:

Foundation for Youth for support of the Council for Youth Development

Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. to support the Counseling Counts Program

IUPUC Office of Women for a start-up grant

Mill Race Center for development software

Columbus Park Foundation for renovations at the Jolie Crider Skatepark

Advocates for Children for consulting services

Assessing needs

Several months ago, before the banking merger was final, First Financial began considering what it could do philanthropically in its communities, Roszczyk said.

“There are so many great organizations in Columbus. Where could we make a donation that would have the greatest impact, and reach the broadest universe of people?” Roszczyk said.

Roszczyk said he and Tony Gambaiani, First Financial’s market president for south-central Indiana, also based in Columbus, came up with the idea of working with the Heritage Fund.

Gambaiani said they approached Heritage Fund about the idea in mid-May.

Heritage Fund has been a catalyst for many community projects such as the downtown Columbus streetscape, Mill Race Center and Our Hospice, Roszczyk said. And it has many other important projects on the horizon — such as a strategic plan for downtown Columbus, fighting drug addiction in Bartholomew County, and affordable housing — so it made sense to make a donation to support the organization’s efforts, Roszczyk said.

Continued giving

When First Financial and MainSource announced their plans last July to merge, the banks said their mutual commitment to philanthropy would remain strong.

First Financial is placing $3 million into its new foundation initially, and expects to add about $1 million annually afterward, Brown said. From that, donations can be made to support many worthy organizations and programs, he said.

The banks used the assistance of a Washington-based consultant, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, to formulate a community benefits agreement for its philanthropy strategy.

That involved listening sessions in the Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Louisville metro markets to hear from groups about needs in the community.

The community benefits agreement, announced in October, involves $1.7 billion in giving over five years through mortgages and small-business loans to low- and moderate-income communities and borrowers, community development lending and investments, and philanthropy, among other measures.

First Financial has been working on ideas for donations in its markets — particularly Cincinnati, Columbus and Greensburg, where it has the greatest concentrations of customers and visibility, Brown said.

First Financial had a 45.4 percent market share in Bartholomew County based on nearly $566 million in deposits as of June 30, 2017, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation data. That’s three times the market share of the next-closest competitor in Bartholomew County.

Before the merger was completed, a commitment of $1 million over five years was made to Greensburg in Decatur County, where MainSource Bank had been based.

The $200,000 donations in the Columbus market are the first being announced in post-merger philanthropy, Brown said.

“This commitment is among the largest in the company,” Brown said, adding that this was a special circumstance and most donations are usually smaller.

The donations to FFY and Heritage Fund on top of typical donations to the community represent three times the contributions First Financial makes in Columbus in any given year.

In prior years, First Financial has donated more than $100,000 annually to the Columbus community, and will continue making local donations, such as to Ethnic Expo — a $30,000 commitment — and to the Columbus Regional Health Foundation, Roszczyk said.

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“We just thought as we start to come together, let’s look at some of our most important communities — certainly Columbus and the area here being one of them — and let’s try to find some things we can do to make a meaningful impact locally.”

— Archie M. Brown Jr., First Financial president and CEO 

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For more information about The 100 Campaign of Heritage Fund – The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County, or to contribute, contact Kristin Munn at 812-376-7772 or [email protected], or go Heritage Fund’s website, heritagefundbc.org.

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