The ABA Foundation has recognized six banks for their outstanding commitment to their communities. The ABA Community Commitment Awards — to be presented on Oct. 17 during ABA’s Annual Convention in Chicago — are given in six categories to honor innovative, high-impact bank programs and projects that produce lasting results in the communities they serve. Bank award winners and categories were:
- Woodforest Bank, The Woodlands, Texas, for affordable housing
- Alpine Bank, Glenwood Springs, Colo., for community and economic development
- Green Dot Bank, Pasadena, Calif., for economic inclusion
- 1st Security Bank of Washington, Mountlake Terrace, Wash., for financial education
- Bank of the Rockies, Clyde Park, Mont., for protecting older Americans
- TBK Bank, Dallas, for volunteerism
The fourth annual George Bailey Distinguished Service Award will be posthumously awarded to Beth Prever, formerly head of marketing and community relations at TowneBank in Suffolk, Va. The Bailey Award is presented to an individual banker demonstrating outstanding initiative, effectiveness and inspiration to others; Prever was picked to win the award shortly before her death from ALS in August.
During her career, Prever led TowneBank in a wide variety of community projects serving the homeless, children with cancer and families in need, as well as motivating bank staff to participate. She was most passionate about fundraising for ALS through the Virginia Beach ALS Walk, long before her own 2016 diagnosis of ALS that would eventually take her life.
“Serving others and enriching the lives of those in our community represents the foundation of all that we do at TowneBank,” said Bob Aston, TowneBank chairman and CEO. “No one embodied those values more than Beth. She played an enormous role in all that we were able to accomplish and her work has been, and will continue to be, an inspiration to us.”
