Community Happenings

April was Financial Literacy Month! Throughout the month, United employees led financial literacy workshops, read to classes about saving money, created educational displays in their branches, and more!

The United team in Clayton, NC is proud to sponsor G-Force Robotics, Johnston County's first and North Carolina's largest all-girl robotics team.

Since forming in April, they have been hard at work prepping for upcoming robotics competitions. In addition to their STEM-focused programs and many hours spent in the shop, the team has also volunteered over 500 community service hours within Clayton and surrounding communities. The team is comprised of 12 young women in grades 9 through 12 from communities and schools across a tri-county area. The team seeks to encourage girls’ interest in STEM fields while also developing skills in business, marketing, and leadership.

Recently, the team presented their competition robot at the Clayton, NC Town Council Meeting and spoke to council members about their accomplishments and upcoming community service initiatives. We're so proud of all they've accomplished so far, and we can't wait to see what's to come!

We've officially kicked off our partnership with Habitat for Humanity! Our first official build took place in Wake County, NC, on July 1. This new partnership will both support the cost of local builds and provide local United team members with the opportunity to volunteer on a build in their area. We believe it will impact our communities and help all of us connect to each other and our mission as bankers. 

Supporting housing strategies and the path to affordable homeownership is a core pillar of the United Community Bank Foundation. This means investing in our communities and helping our customers reach their housing goals from a lending perspective. Partnering with Habitat for Humanity lets us go one step further and directly contribute to families' homeownership dreams in our communities.

"Bright eyes and tons of questions!” That’s what our United Community Bank team was met with when they visited with the local Junior Achievement group in Orlando, FL recently. The bankers had the opportunity to teach various grade levels at Pinar Elementary about money, savings, taxes, business, and more! The kids were enthusiastic and eager to learn, and even sent our team thank you cards asking them to please come back again! It would be our pleasure to do just that.

We’re still in the middle of summer, but Seaside bankers down in Orlando, Florida are already thinking about back to school! This group, partnering with the Together for Good Council, donated to the “A Gift for Teaching” organization.
 
The donation, along with their volunteer efforts, allowed Seaside to support “The Big Backpack Build” event. They filled 15,000 backpacks with school supplies that will be given to underprivileged students for the upcoming school year. The event took place at the Valencia West Campus in Orlando. While this group has donated to the organization before, it was the first time they got in on the hands-on action of stuffing the bookbags.

The bankers say it was great opportunity to give back to our community – and – “We had so much fun doing it!”  Thanks to these teammates for their commitment to our communities!

The Atlanta News First Surprise Squad thanks a Woodstock police officer with a gift for his help when a woman’s car stopped in the middle of traffic in metro-Atlanta.

The Pickens County Humane Society was awarded a check by the Fox Carolina Surprise Squad to help support their mission along with receiving a car full of supplies!

FOX Carolina's Surprise Squad gives back to a fifth grader who started a food pantry during the pandemic. Eleven-year-old Corbin started his pantry to support his local community and those who were struggling to buy food. This is his third year doing so and he collected over 500 canned goods. He also has organized a toy drive for Christmas to support local children in need.

On December 6^th, our Charlotte branch took part in the 75^th annual Marine Corps Toys for Tots Program collection. The branch gathered three large boxes of donations to be distributed to families within the area. Since 1947, over 281 million children have been impacted by the service this program provides to local communities.
 
Corporal A. Zavala was designated to facilitate the collection at this branch. She explained how the program sent out over 600 boxes this season to be filled across the area. Each Marine coordinator is responsible for planning, organizing, and conducting the campaign in their community. “We touch every individual toy,” explained Corporal Zavala.  
 
Once these toys are collected, they are then sent to local, central warehouses, such as a former school in Charlotte. From here, they are then sorted by age group to be given as needed. Toys for Tots partners with local social welfare agencies, church groups, and other community agencies to identify and deliver the donations to less fortunate children of the community. Local campaigns stretch across America, including in each of United’s footprint states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

In observance of Veterans Day, we are celebrating America's veterans through acts of kindness and service across our footprint. We're also proud to highlight some of the veterans on our team. They shared their thoughts on what serving our country meant to them and what we can do to honor the veterans in our country. 

Our teams are finding unique ways to thank and support veterans in their communities including organizing collection drives for care packages to send to military personnel, assembling and distributing care boxes to military families, raising funds to supply a veteran with training to train their own service dog, and writing thank you cards. In addition to the acts of service, the United Community Bank Foundation will be making a total of $25,000 in donations to local organizations that support veterans.

On December 3^rd, over 300 volunteers gathered to construct 30 playhouses for the East Cooper Habitat for Humanity’s ‘Project Playhouse’. Habitats over the area come together for this annual event that serves deserving families across the Charleston area. Each playhouse is custom built for every child receiving it and catered to their particular interests – like Spiderman! Lowes Home Improvement works to sponsor the event and will be assisting in the delivery process over the next week!
 
Several members of our United team took part in this project, from construction and design to amazing freehand painting!  (Nancy Aurora – Branch Manager, Mt Pleasant- Coleman Boulevard; Bhaumik Desai – Branch Manager, Charleston; Kara Johnson Nungesser – Mortgage Loan Officer, Mt. Pleasant; Tom Kutyla – Commercial Team Member, Charleston; Lea Pinckney – Regional Banking Manager, Charleston; Jon Presley –  Commercial Relationship Manager, Summerville; Mikell Richards – Regional Mortgage Manager, Charleston; Faye Shepherd – Executive Assistant, Mt. Pleasant) “It is amazing to find out the talent that you have on your team when presented with a challenge!” said Faye Shepherd.

7-year-old John Panter has a spirit of caring beyond his years. When the Cartersville, GA boy saw what was happening in Ukraine on the news, he wanted to do something to help. The first thing he did was empty his own piggy bank and pull out everything he had: $4.28. Then, with the help of family and friends, he began making crafts to sell. He set out with an initial goal to raise $250.

Then, John's story started to spread. With the help of our CBS 46 Surprise Squad team, United donated $1,500 to John's mission, and when cameras showed up to surprise John, his family and friends were there cheering him on.

His family says John is now nearing $20,000 in funds raised to help the children and families in Ukraine. The money will be sent to the aid organization 'This Child Here,' and the money will help make a difference for families who will be able to purchase food, formula, diapers, hygiene products, and more.

United employees across the footprint observed the 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance by honoring 9/11 victims and rewarding first responder heroes with acts of service throughout the first two weeks of September. Teams began their acts of service ahead of 9/11 by cooking lunch for first responders or dropping off thank-you gifts before the weekend started. Other teams honored victims on 9/11 with acts of remembrance and sacrifice.

Employees were encouraged to organize acts of service within their communities or participate in projects led by the Together for Good Council. In addition to the acts of service, the United Community Bank Foundation will make a total of $25,000 in donations to local organizations supporting first responders.