LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – On Tuesday morning, Simmons Bank presented $30,000 to Junior Achievement USA (JA USA) at the Simmons River Market Building auditorium in downtown Little Rock. The donation, which will fund work-readiness and financial literacy skills for children across Simmons Bank’s footprint, was made in honor of nearly 3,000 volunteer hours that associates donated to their local communities earlier this fall.
“We are incredibly proud of our associates for continuing to exemplify our community bank heritage through service and volunteerism, especially during challenging times,” said Jena Compton, Simmons Bank’s chief people and corporate strategy officer. “It’s a privilege to honor their efforts with today’s donation to Junior Achievement, an organization that shares Simmons Bank’s passion for providing education and financial literacy training to the next generation.”
“One of Junior Achievement’s goals is to help young people better understand how money works so that they can become more financially capable adults,” said Jack E. Kosakowski, president and CEO of Junior Achievement USA. “We greatly appreciate the support of Simmons Bank in this effort. As the result of their commitment, more of today’s young people will have brighter financial futures tomorrow.”
In September 2020, associates across the bank’s footprint participated in their third annual “Simmons Service Month,” a companywide initiative to encourage volunteerism. Since not all associates could safely volunteer due to the coronavirus pandemic, Simmons Bank counted every five donated items or $10 donated as one service hour. Based on this equivalent, associates served nearly 3,000 volunteer hours and impacted more than 170 communities across the bank’s seven-state footprint.
To support associates’ efforts, Simmons Bank gave all associates four hours of paid time off in September to volunteer and committed to make a $10 charitable donation for every service hour to JA USA, an associate-nominated charity. The bank’s $30,000 gift will be targeted to impact children in the following Simmons Bank communities:
- Fayetteville, Arkansas
- Nashville, Tennessee
- Dallas, Texas
- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- Kansas City, Missouri
- Louis, Missouri
- Wichita, Kansas
Simmons associates who donated 15 or more volunteer hours during Simmons Service Month also received $150 for charities of their choice. These top volunteers raised a combined $5,850 for charities across Simmons Bank’s footprint.
About Simmons Bank
Simmons Bank is an Arkansas state-chartered bank that began in 1903. Through the decades, Simmons has developed a full suite of financial products and services designed to meet the needs of individual consumers and business customers alike. Simmons has grown steadily and today operates more than 200 branch locations throughout Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. Simmons is the subsidiary bank for Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ: SFNC), a publicly traded bank holding company headquartered in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, with total consolidated assets of $21.4 billion as of Sept. 30, 2020. For more information, visit https://simmonsbank.com/.
###
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
SARAH SHAFER
Simmons Bank
Communications Specialist
501.612.8412 (mobile)
sarah.shafer@simmonsbank.com