By Sym Posey |The Birmingham Times
When 11-year-old Tristen Brown begins school on August 7 he plans to be ready thanks to a brand-new backpack filled with supplies he received on Saturday.
“I got to peak inside, and I know I have a new book. I love books,” said the rising sixth grader at John Herbert Phillips Academy, who said he is looking forward to making new friends this year.
“It’s a new school and I know that they have a lot of fantastic academic success there. What I want to do when I grow up is be a space astronaut for NASA. Small things like this [supplies] help me along my path to get there.”
Brown won’t be the only one ready for school. Hundreds of other students across the City of Birmingham received supplies during Chase Bank’s back-to-school and backpack giveaway at the A.G. Gaston Boys & Girls Club in Birmingham. The event also featured activities, free financial health workshops, and free haircuts.
More than 1,000 backpacks were filled with materials like pencils, notebooks and folders, and handed out as students gear up for the new school year which begins on August 7 for Birmingham and Jefferson County schools.
For Danielle Cameron, Chase Branch Manager and one of the organizers, the event was more than a part of her job.
“I grew up not too far from this area, so being able to pour back into this neighborhood means a lot to me, to be able to get back to a community that I grew up around and in,” said the Pratt City native.
“Chase is known as this big bank. It means a lot to us to court the community, and the way we do that is for us to get to know the people and the businesses in the community,” Cameron added.
Last year’s event was a success, but this year’s was even better. “Having a line at the door this year, that’s not something we had last year,” she said.
Jennifer DeSalvo, Executive Director for the Consumer Bank for Alabama, Mississippi Market, said Chase knows the importance of having these kinds of events, she said.
“One of my most special moments in my banking career was last year at this very spot,” she said. “I had a mother come up to me and tell me that her son would finally have a backpack to take to school for the first time.”
She added, “I also had a young younger gentleman who told me, he grew up with people telling him, ‘don’t trust banks.’ And because of some of the workshops, he was like, ‘I’m gonna come see a banker. I want to learn how to save for my kids.’ I got into banking to help people but it’s moments like that that you truly feel like you’re doing that.”
Chase Bank’s community involvement goes beyond back-to-school events. The bank has committed to add 24 more branches in Alabama by 2030.
“We’re really trying to find ways like this to get involved in the community,” DeSalvo said. “We’ve definitely got some things and some community members that were working with very closely. …”
Budgeting resources are available to any student or parent year-round at Chase. More information can be found here.
