In The Community

Paint-a-Thon

In 1993, the bank began sponsoring an annual Paint-A-Thon to paint homes of local area residents who were 55 or older or disabled and unable financially to have the work done themselves. Since that time, 383 homes have been painted in the Burlington area with an average annual volunteer base of 640.

From this program, Two Rivers Bank & Trust has received the Community Service Summit Award from the Iowa Bankers Association, a Partnership Award from the Community Action of Southeast Iowa, a Declaration from the City of Burlington for supporting the building of community pride and encouraging citizens to respond to the needs of their fellow neighbors. We also received an Award of Excellence from the Iowa Bankers Association for economic and community service.

Grimes School/Business Partnership

In September 1994, our bank formed a "Business Partnership" with Grimes Elementary School, a kindergarten through fifth grade primary school. The school had a need for additional adult involvement. A committee of seven bank employees conducts an assembly for each grade level throughout the year using the Character Counts principals to develop the assembly content.

In addition to this monthly schedule, the committee mails birthday cards to each child throughout the year and attends their various school programs and special events, such as the kick-off of their "Red Ribbon Week" proclaiming a drug-free environment.

This concept has helped to fill a need for additional adult involvement in one of our local elementary schools and has been especially rewarding to our committee members.

Grimes Bulldog Bank

The Grimes Bulldog Bank is starting its fifth year of operation. The bank is open for 30 minutes one morning each week at the school. This past year has been a busy one for the bank. We had 28 students working as tellers, bookkeepers, depositors and greeters. Every two weeks they rotate positions at the bank. In this way, they learn all facets of a bank. They did a wonderful job of learning how a bank operates and especially taking care of the customer.

During the 2009/2010 year, we had two half day training sessions in which we brought the students to Two Rivers Bank for a tour and then held their training. Grimes Bulldog bank has about 85 accounts which include both teacher and staff accounts.

We have a great crew of Two Rivers employees who volunteer their time once a week to help supervise at the Bulldog Bank.

Mediapolis Bulldog Bank

Since the fall of 1998, the Mediapolis Bulldog Bank has been helping students from Pre-Kindergarten to 8th grade develop the habit of saving. In the fall of the year, bank personnel visit the classes to introduce them to Kids Bank. Student bankers are selected from an application and interview process. After their training sessions, students are given the opportunity to widen their experiences by serving two weeks at each of the four stations: greeters, deposit preparation, tellers, bookkeeping.

Using an ongoing reward system, a depositor's Star-Super Saver card is punched after each deposit; when all 10 stars are punched, the depositor receives $0.50. Through their enthusiastic participation, teachers and depositors are eligible for semi-annual book fair drawings. The semester culminates with the opportunity for the student bankers to serve "real" customers at the Mediapolis branch bank, followed by a pizza party.

Through their partnership with teachers and administrators, Two Rivers Bank & Trust publishes a monthly newsletter on the Mediapolis elementary website. The Mediapolis Bulldog Bank has 298 accounts in the elementary grades, with 43 new the last school year. Their average deposit is $14.50, with 2009-2010 school year deposits totaling $24,713.14.

Two Rivers Running Team

Takes the Des Moines' Dam to Dam Challenge

America's largest 20K (12.4 miles) race

On Saturday, June 5, 2010, 6,857 20K & 5K racers crossed the finish line by Nollen Plaza downtown. This year's fantastic (though wet) journey took runners from Saylorville Dam where they saw downtown Des Moines on the horizon, through Iowa's countryside and Des Moines neighborhoods.

Two Rivers formed a running team (with official company dri-fit t-shirts) in 2008 to tackle the challenge. According to one co-worker, the Two Rivers team members inspired one another to do that first race as a team. A few of them were signed up and thought it would be fun, so they ordered shirts and away they went!