ACB: Press Releases

Contact:	Robert Schmermund (202) 857-3104 Jim Eberle (202) 857-3145	Jim Eberle (202) 857-3145 (work) (703) 893-2593 (home) [email protected]	For Immediate Release October 25, 2001 #01-73
E-mail: [email protected]

VISITING COMMUNITY BANKERS PARTICIPATE IN NEW ORLEANS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY BUILD; HABITAT INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR JACK KEMP TO SPEAK

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — America’s Community Bankers and its housing foundation will celebrate 10 years of giving back to communities by joining with Habitat for Humanity to build a Habitat House in New Orleans during ACB’s annual convention in New Orleans, Nov. 4-7, at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside Hotel. The build is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 3, at 7801 Sand, a Habitat site in the east New Orleans community of Little Woods.

Bankers will hear from former Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary and vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp on Tuesday, Nov. 6. Kemp will speak in his role as a member of the board of Habitat for Humanity International and will address the important role of community bankers in housing and their relationship with Habitat. Kemp will be available to the press at about 9 a.m.

“In celebrating our 10th year of service by returning to New Orleans, we wanted to reinforce our commitment to housing and homeownership by working with Habitat for Humanity,” said ACB Housing Partners Foundation Chair Anne Bochnowski, Peoples Bank, Munster, Ind.

Led by New Orleans community bankers and their wives — Mike and Cindy Nolan of Fifth District Savings & Loan Association, Larry and Patsy Boudreaux of Fidelity Homestead Association, and Tony and Marsha Sciortino of State-Investors Bank — more than 100 volunteers and the Lee family, who will occupy the house, will participate in the build.

The ACB Housing Partners Foundation will donate $60,000 to Habitat to cover construction costs. Volunteers from community banks in the New Orleans area will continue to work on the house until it is completed and the Lee family has moved in.

Working with New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity staff and skilled volunteers, the community bank volunteers will completely frame all interior walls and attach them to the exterior construction on Saturday morning. The entire house should be decked and covered with roofing felt by the end of the day.

“We’re pleased to host America’s Community Bankers, and we are especially excited to work with the Housing Partners Foundation,” said Jim Pate, who heads New Orleans Habitat for Humanity. “Our job here in New Orleans is to share our message with community bankers and show them such a wonderful work experience with Prinette Lee and her three children that they will be inspired to return to their own communities and partner with their own local Habitat affiliates.”

The community bankers’ house will be the 60th Habitat home in New Orleans, including 10 already completed homes in Little Woods. It will be constructed of high energy-efficient “Thermacore” material, which is a “new and exciting technology” for Habitat, said Pate.

The ACB Housing Partners Foundation, established in 1991 by the spouses of ACB members, is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to contribute in meaningful and enduring ways to charitable organizations in ACB convention cities across the country. The foundation has donated nearly $800,000 to worthy causes from Boston to Seattle. During ACB’s 1993 convention in New Orleans, the foundation raised funds for New Orleans’ My House, a nondenominational shelter and educational facility.

The Lee family, who will live in the ACB Habitat house, will be welcomed and introduced to ACB members at a benefit concert featuring “The Spinners” on Nov. 6 at the Hilton Riverside hotel.

America’s Community Bankers is the national trade association committed to shaping the future of banking by being the innovative industry leader strengthening the competitive position of community banks. To learn more about ACB, visit www.AmericasCommunityBankers.com.

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