How one bank is dedicated to making a difference

Compassion into Action perfectly names Isabella Bank’s day of caring, held annually since 2018 on Columbus Day, when the bank is closed.

This year, over 300 employees volunteered on their day off, helping 18 organizations with various projects. Spanning the bank’s eight-county service area of Bay, Clare, Gratiot, Isabella, Mecosta, Midland, Montcalm, and Saginaw counties, “the efforts provide immediate relief for organizations, build long-term community resilience, and create a lasting positive impact,” according to Isabella Bank’s website.

“Compassion into Action began as a way to unify our employees around a shared commitment to service,” says Isabella Bank Community Relations Specialist Amanda Tillotson. “While our team members already volunteered individually or in small groups throughout the year, there was a vision to create a dedicated day where everyone could come together to make a collective impact.”  

Isabella Bank Director of Customer Service Operations, Jenn Brick, was instrumental in starting Compassion into Action eight years ago. Bringing the concept with her from a previous job, Brick says it was an easy sell. Starting with only two large projects that first year, cleaning parks and homes in Saginaw and helping Habitat for Humanity in Mt. Pleasant, the event has blossomed into what it is today.

  Volunteer locations and projects this year were:

• Art Reach of Mid-Michigan – Basement storage update
• Chippewa Watershed Conservancy – Mill Pond Natural Area cleanup
• Habitat for Humanity of Isabella County – Restore organizing (Mt. Pleasant)
• Isabella Community Soup Kitchen – Food prep and meal service
• Isabella County Commission on Aging – Yard cleanup for seniors
• Life Choices of Central Michigan – Baby Boutique and diaper organizing
• Mecosta County Habitat for Humanity – Restore organizing (Big Rapids)
• Mid Michigan Community Action Agency – Food packing (Clare)
• Midland County Habitat for Humanity – Facility maintenance building
• Mt. Pleasant Discovery Museum – Educational activity day
• R.I.S.E. Advocacy – Women’s shelter maintenance
• Saginaw-Shiawasee Habitat for Humanity – Building project (Saginaw)
• The Care Store – Store restocking 
• United Way Greater Central Michigan – Food packing (Ithaca)
• United Way Greater Central Michigan – Food packing (Stanton)
• United Way Greater Central Michigan – Food packing (Mt. Pleasant)
• United Way of Midland County – Camp Neyati projects
• United Way of Saginaw County – Packing kits and organizing donations

The entire event has evolved since that first year, and organizations often seek us out. Brick says, “We now can divide and conquer.” 

Planning Compassion into Action is a months-long process beginning in the spring. Brick says Isabella Bank’s five-person marketing team, led by Lori Peterson, is a major organizer of the event. According to Brick, Peterson puts together many of the details and logistics for everyone. 

“This is a day we can truly practice what we preach,” Brick says. “We can do it together as one organization, which gives us a lot of pride.”

Tillotson is also key in the day’s leadership by identifying volunteer opportunities and working with nonprofit partners, which is part of her job all year. “My primary role [at the bank] includes managing partnerships with local nonprofits and community organizations through volunteerism and philanthropy,” she says.

This concept of philanthropy aligns with Isabella Bank’s view of community banking and giving back where you work and play, says Mike Williams, Midland Community President of the bank. “People in our area don’t want a big bank,” he says. “They want a relationship.”

Williams says Isabella Bank’s Compassion into Action is not held to have a direct benefit for a sale or a bottom line. “It’s about being a good community partner, about being a good neighbor,” he says.

Quoting former Midland City Manager Jon Lynch, Williams says, “It’s the idea of being a citizen, someone who gives back and is involved, versus simply being a resident.” 

Katty Owens, Midland’s Habitat for Humanity Service Manager, pitched in at Midland County’s Habitat for Humanity building supply location on Gordonville Road, one of Midland County’s Compassion into Action sites. In her work with Habitat, Owens helps people achieve home ownership and oversees major home repairs like roofs and furnaces through grant funding. In this position for the last five years, she says this partnership is critically important. “We appreciate Isabella Bank today,” she says.

Brick also worked on the Habitat project. She says, “These people are bankers, not manual laborers, but they jump right in to get the tasks done.”

Twenty-one bank employees volunteered at this site, doing everything from sorting building materials to outdoor yardwork and landscaping. “This building [is important because it] not only stores supplies, but is also a place where walls can be built and where homeowners can come to paint trim,” Owens says.

“With Isabella Bank’s volunteers, we can make sure the organization’s money goes toward Habitat homes and helping maintain them,” she says. “This is hard work; otherwise we’d have to pay someone to do all of this.”

Camp Neyati was the other Midland County Compassion into Action project site.

Although located in Clare County’s town of Lake, the camp falls under Midland County United Way’s umbrella. Eighteen volunteers from Isabella Bank helped with Neyati’s projects.

“Compassion into Action is a special day that reminds me why I love what I do – connecting people, building relationships with our nonprofit partners, and making a difference,” Tillotson says. “It’s incredibly rewarding to contribute to projects that directly benefit my neighbors and to see the impact firsthand.”