Aricema, an Itasca Bank & Trust Co. employee, volunteering at the Bensenville- Wood Dale Food Pantry
In a time when our conservation work is getting done more and more at the community level, The Conservation Foundation would like to congratulate a strong community bank and our loyal and trusted partner, Itasca Bank & Trust Company, on their 75th Anniversary. And the community-minded way they have chosen to commemorate this milestone year deserves to be celebrated itself!
As part of their year-long initiative to combat food insecurity in Itasca and neighboring communities, Itasca Bank & Trust Co. is partnering with The Conservation Foundation and our Green Earth Harvest program to provide the fresh, organic produce we grow at McDonald Farm to the five local food pantries the Bank has dubbed its Pantry Partners. The Itasca Cares Food Pantry, Roselle UMC Food Pantry, Bensenville-Wood Dale Food Pantry, Elmhurst-Yorkfield Food Pantry, and the Wood Dale Food Pantry will receive vegetables from the Green Earth Harvest program for 20 weeks – from June to October – of the 2023 growing season. This fresh, healthy nutrition will help food pantry patrons who are struggling to keep nourishing food on their tables during these difficult economic times.
To fund this effort, Itasca Bank & Trust Co. turned to its business customers, a way of further involving the local community in their fight against food insecurity. Together these community-minded organizations raised $44,000! These donations will support our Green Earth Harvest farm program and ultimately feed hundreds of families served by all five Pantry Partners.
Itasca Bank & Trust Co. plans to donate an additional $50,000 in support of food security as part of their 75th Anniversary celebration, as well as provide volunteers to the Pantry Partners by allowing their employees to volunteer on company time. They’ve set up a schedule to have two volunteers a day visit one of the locations during work hours, with a goal of 600 volunteer hours provided by company employees overall. Bank customers also get to play a part in this community-enriching initiative, as the Bank is donating $75 to the effort with each new bank account opened.
Jim Mensching, the fifth president in Itasca Bank & Trust Co.’s history, said “My grandfather and great-grandfather said there had to be a bank for community to grow, so they started The Itasca State Bank…Everything has changed, but the bank is still here. What’s really important is that our philosophy hasn’t changed. We’re honest and ethical and we look for win-win relationships that help us and help our customers and often that helps our communities. I think this (initiative) typifies who the Bank is and what we’re about.”
In April, Itasca Bank & Trust Co. employees and the directors of the Pantry Partners will be visiting McDonald Farm to finalize our Farm to Pantry program plans and walk the land that will be growing the fresh and nutritious food for their patrons. We’re so heartened by the idea of the food we lovingly grow nourishing and lifting up families in need.
We want to thank Itasca Bank & Trust Co. for commemorating their 75th Anniversary in such a giving, creative, and community-minded way. It is our privilege to grow this food and help the Bank continue to serve their surrounding communities, as they have for three quarters of a century.
