Banks aid communities with high tech donations

Northwestern Financial Review, Jan 1, 2001

People in Illinois and South Dakota have a little greater access to computer equipment, thanks to the generosity of two unrelated banks. Shorebank Corp., of Chicago recently donated $50,000 to South Shore Community Academy for the purchase of computers, printers, scanners and projection equipment. And Commercial Bank, a division of First National Bank South Dakota, recently donated 30 computers to organizations throughout the state. Recipients of the donated computers ranged from public safety organizations to research programs.

The Shorebank Corp., donation, which was made along with the Chicago Community Trust, was made in honor of Milton Davis, retired chairman of Shorebank Chicago Companies.

Shorebank Corp., formed in 1973, has numerous holdings including banks in Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, and a loan center in Washington. Chicago Community Trust was founded in 1915 and is one of the largest community foundations in the country. The Trust utilizes the income from approximately $1 billion in assets to award more than $35 million in grants annually.

Students from the South Shore Community Academy will be able to use what they learn in the multimedia computer lab at Studio Air, a program of Shorebank Corps not-forprofit affiliate, Shorebank Neighborhood Institute.

South Shore Community Academy and Studio Air have formed a partnership in which Studio Air, an afterschool program, will relocate to the school in order to provide students with on-site technical and visual arts training.

Studio Air was created in 1996 to develop the artistic and entrepreneurial skills of youth from Chicago's South Side. The program teaches students to use standard graphic design software. The Shorebank/Community Trust gift will enable Web page design, database development and management, computer animation and digital filmmaking to be added to the curriculum.

In Mitchell, S.D., Commercial Bank donated the computers in an effort to serve its community. "So many of these organizations directly impact our customers and our community," said Greg Dice, executive vice president. "It seemed only appropriate to offer these computers to these organizations first."

The computers were manufactured by Gateway, a company with a substantial presence in South Dakota.

Criteria for the donations required that the groups receiving the computers were non-profit in nature and would benefit more than an immediate membership. Organizations also indicated how many computers would assist them with the needs. In many cases, more than one computer was donated to an organization.

Ed Olson, executive director of the Prehistoric Indian Village, said he was thrilled to be one of the computer recipients. Although the organization already had computers, they were dedicated to documenting archaeology discoveries at the site. Additional computers were needed so the site could share information with the public and other archaeologists.

"This really helps us because it gives the public and students more access to information from our project as it is discovered," Olson said. "The computers complement what we already have and will be used to allow individuals to access information from our site through the Internet."

"These computers will help others understand how we discover the past," commented Peter Winham, assistant director of the archeology lab at Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D. "People are amazed to see what it takes to do this kind of work and go away with a different idea of the nature of our work."

Among the other South Dakota recipients were the Woonsocket Fire Department, Mitchell Area Safe House, Huron Heartland 4-H, Mitchell Red Cross and the Wesleyan Church.