Forty Brown Bags Removed from Local Bank

Colonial American Bank in Horsham held an interesting transaction Monday.

At approximately 1 p.m., Kevin Gehring, Colonial American Bank banking office manager helped load 40 large brown bags of donated canned goods into the minivan of Jack Tarman, executive director of the .

A far cry from foul play, the transaction between the for-profit and nonprofit organizations was that of community outreach.

“We are interested in any involvement we can do,” Gehring said. “This is where we work, and this is where we live.”

According to Gehring, this is the second year that Colonial American Bank has sponsored the canned-food drive; the food will go toward families in need throughout the greater Willow Grove area, during the holiday season.

Tarman said the 40 bags were filled with canned good items from pasta to various vegetables, and will be delivered to 20 families of the WGCDC, who are indentified as those with the most need for such donations.

The WGCDC provides rental housing at below-market value to more than 55 low-income families in Abington, Ambler, Hatboro, Horsham and Upper Moreland.

Richard McDonough, president and CEO of the nonprofit America Responds With Love, said that local partnerships like this are key in getting life-necessities to those who really need it.

“If we didn’t have businesses like Colonial American and Jack’s group in Willow Grove, this wouldn’t work,” McDonough said. “They help identify and distribute collected resources.”

McDonough said that while Montgomery County may be one of the richest counties in the country, there are still people in need, who may “fall between the cracks.” He credits organizations such as Colonial American Bank, and the WGCDC, as groups that catch such individuals, families and sometimes whole communities.

According to McDonough, America Responds With Love acts as the infrastructure for a national network of local partnerships with community-outreach interests, such as Colonial American Bank and the WGCDC.

In 2009, America Responds With Love first worked with Colonial American Bank, which is located in building four of an expansive office complex, to temporarily house to 14,000 pounds of flower bulbs.

The donated bulbs carpeted the bank’s back parking lot, and were picked up and planted by over 40 local municipalities to help with their respective beatification projects.

For the canned food drive, Colonial American Bank put the WGCDC in contact with America Responds With Love, who expressed its desire to help feed underprivileged families during the holidays.

In response, McDonough used his connections through America Responds With Love to contact the Episcopal Academy of Newtown Square in Delaware County, for its students to gather the canned-goods. The Montgomery County District Attorney’s seeks participants in its Community Service Program to sort the cans, and several regional businesses to store and transport the canned goods.

This year, students at the Haverford School in Haverford, Delaware County, have also started collecting canned goods.

And while, America Responds With Love’s main office is in Valley Forge, its base is in Wichita, Kansas. However, the organization’s hyper-local infrastructure model helps promote its community outreach programs throughout the country.

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For more information on America Responds With Love, visit www.respondwithlove.org or e-mail info@respondwithlove.org.

For more information on Colonial American Bank, visit www.colonialamericanbank.com/