It’s all about the community.

Sunflower Bank is showing its support for the community with a donation to the Seward County Community College Foundation.

“Every year Sunflower Bank tries to give back to the community and we look for specific foundations that help low- to moderate-income families, a diverse group,” said Jonny Vergara, senior branch manager at Sunflower Bank. “We felt really strongly about the Foundation after I spoke with Chandler Kirkhart (SCCC associate director of annual giving & alumni engagement) about the scholarships that they provide and some of the special funds they provide (for hardship students).”

The bank made the donation, which was almost $500, after hearing about the college’s support to the community and especially, its students.

“Sunflower Bank has been an advocate for this community and I had a great opportunity to talk to their leadership committee about how they can direct it towards the college,” Kirkhart said. “Their big question was how does this help the students? How does it help our community as a whole? After a great conversation, they graciously decided to give us their donation. We’re excited about it.”

Vergara, who is an SCCC graduate along with his siblings, said the bank was looking forward to building a relationship with the college.

“We feel real passionate about continuing the support,” he said. “We’re looking to build a long-term relationship with the Foundation. We’ve been discussing partnerships on different levels. But it’s just discussions and planning so far. Finance is a big area in everyone’s life and we feel the need to help students at this level start planning for those important steps in life whether it’s getting a mortgage, a loan or even a basic checking account.”

The donation is not earmarked for any particular project and can be used at the Foundation’s discretion.

“When we asked them if they wanted us to focus it in any certain place they simply said Seward County Community Colleges know the need of the community, knows the need of their students and they’re allowing us to direct (the funds) to what we feel are the most needed areas,” Kirkhart said.

Categories: Uncategorized