Bank donates brick and mortar to housing charity

Northwestern Financial Review, Jul 1-Jul 14, 2003

Highland Bank, St. Michael, Minn., is funding a portion of a Habitat for Humanity construction project in nearby Annandale, a bedroom community 40 miles northwest of Minneapolis. Highland Bank's grant of $4,400 will be used to help pay for the cinder block foundation of a single-family home being built by the Wright county chapter of Habitat for Humanity.

The grant falls under the bank's Community Involvement Program, which was launched in January 2002. This year, Highland Bank increased charitable giving through that program by 30 percent. "Our contribution to Habitat is the perfect building block," said bank CEO Rick Wall. "We're here to help our clients and employees achieve their prosperity. Our charitable giving is one of the ways we can do that."

When completed, the home will have an approximate value of $110,000 and will be owned by a family with annual household income that falls between $23,000 and $38,000. The selected family will make a "sweat equity" down payment by working 200 to 400 hours on the home's construction.

"Highland's grant came at a critical time in the chapter's development," said Warren Myhre, chairperson of the Habitat chapter. The family's zero-percent interest mortgage payments will go into a fund that Habitat will use to finance the building of three more homes in Wright County.

As a way to commemorate 60 years in business in 2003, Highland Bank is committing at least 2 percent of its pre-tax, net earnings to charitable organizations.