Iowa bank's Paint-A-Thon brings home owners tears of joy

Northwestern Financial Review, Aug 1-Aug 14, 2002 by Dullum, Justin

Henry County Bank's idea to help out its community was simple: get a few people together and paint a couple of houses for low-- income and disabled people. One week, 209 volunteers and six houses later, the staff at Henry County Bank already is looking forward to next year's Paint-A-Thon.

Karen Ackles, who works at the Mt. Pleasant office of the $50 million bank, organized the event. Ackles said initial expectations for the success of Henry County Bank's Paint-A-Thon were modest. Bank President Donald Carmody agreed.

"I don't know if we were pleasantly surprised or just overwhelmed. But it was a tremendous success," said Carmody, who admitted the bank borrowed the idea from Burlington Bank and Trust, Burlington, Iowa, which, like the New London, Iowa-based Henry County Bank, is a subsidiary of the Great River Financial Group. (The $230 million holding company also owns the $30 million Southeast Security Bank in Mediapolis, Iowa.)

In an effort to gain sponsors, Ackles put the word out to local businesses. She soon had 15 businesses willing to sponsor teams of house painters. "We said we're looking to paint the houses of low income, disabled and elderly people in the area. We were overwhelmed with the response," Ackles said. "We thought we'd have a handful of volunteers and a few sponsors. But a lot of people liked the idea and it just took off."

After the bank got the ball rolling, the goodwill of the volunteers took over and the effort became self-propelled. In order to determine who might qualify for assistance, the bank teamed up with the Southeast Iowa Community Action group, which started the search for qualified families by contacting those in the community that receive heating assistance. Meanwhile, each volunteering business formed teams. Individuals from the respective participating business led each team. These individuals coordinated when the team or group of teams would meet at homes chosen by the SICA. Mt. Pleasant Lumber donated the paint, primer, caulking and expert advice. The volunteers offered a week's worth of sweat.

"I was out there every night," said Carmody. "All the volunteers really made an extra effort."

Some volunteers, in fact, went far beyond the call of duty. Many took it upon themselves to make other improvements at the homes, such as minor repairs and landscaping. "We cut trees and planted flowers. One team bought and installed a new storm door," Ackles said. "The volunteers did a lot of things that weren't asked of them."

The extra efforts made significant differences. The bank called and asked the local waste management office if it would be willing to donate a dumpster to the cause. Out of one individual's yard, the waste crew removed four dumpsters and a dump truck's worth of junk.

Before-and-after pictures of the homes appeared in a newspaper insert the bank produced in order to thank the sponsors and volunteers. The photos explain why some of the people whose houses received face-lifts were brought to tears by the results.

"The reactions ranged from overwhelming gratitude to tears," Ackles said. "One woman had been gone while her house was being painted. When she came home, she couldn't speak. She was crying. These people were very concerned about the way their homes looked, but they just couldn't do anything about it. They didn't have the funds or physical capabilities or both."

From photographs taken at the site, Carmody said Henry County Bank plans to produce a video and give copies to the participating businesses as a thank you and a reminder of the difference their actions made. It might even inspire them to repeat their efforts next year.