Charlotte Volunteer Event at Second Harvest Food Bank

To raise awareness around the growing risk of hunger and demand for food assistance, Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton and North Carolina and Charlotte market president Charles Bowman joined more than 50 Bank of America employee volunteers at the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina to stuff backpacks, prepare senior boxes and bag fresh produce. Currently, there are more than 451,000 people living at or below the poverty level including 193,000 children and seniors in the 19 county region of North and South Carolina served by Second Harvest. This is

an increase of more than 60,000 people in the past two years.

The event was part of the bank's Gift for Opportunity™ fund, established to extend the impact of individual donations.

Helping immigrant families thrive

Anneliese Horst Foerster knows how it feels to be new in town and how important it is to feel welcomed. It’s part of the reason she has spent the last nine years helping immigrant families in Charlotte acclimate to – and thrive in – their new surroundings.

When Foerster moved from the mountains of North Carolina to the city of Charlotte, she sought a volunteer position that would enable her to meet people and make a difference. Her passion for languages, including Spanish, is what attracted her to the Latin American Women’s Association (LAWA), where she currently serves as chair of its board of directors.

Volunteering with LAWA
LAWA is a nonprofit organization that promotes excellence among Latin American women and their families through education. Its programs and services have evolved since 1992 to meet the needs of a rapidly changing community.

For her commitment to LAWA, Foerster received a Local Hero award from Bank of America. She is one of hundreds around the country who received awards as part of the bank’s Neighborhood Excellence Initiative.

“I think it’s wonderful that Bank of America is thinking of the people. It’s not just [about] the tallest building in our community,” she said. “Bank of America has become a

Today, there are 66,000 Hispanic people in Mecklenburg County and 360,000 in North Carolina. LAWA helps participants in its programs learn English, excel in school and achieve postsecondary success. The organization provides workshops and scholarships for high school juniors and seniors, as well as for adult women who want to develop new job skills.

“Our work as an organization impacts the community tremendously, especially in this time when it’s so difficult for many families to even afford to send their children to college,” Foerster said. “We also give them the possibility of being active in the community.”

Making a Difference
Foerster has taught more than 2,000 students in 20 years through LAWA and through courses at Queens University of Charlotte. She talks about them proudly as if they were members of her own family. “It’s amazing how these kids who came to his country without knowing a word of English – maybe in middle school or high school – are now speaking English perfectly and getting the best grades,” she said.

Of the 30 high school students currently enrolled in LAWA’s programs, Foerster anticipates all of them will make the grades needed to keep their scholarships next year. Most will earn a GPA of 3.9 or 4.0, she said, like

In addition to furthering students’ education, LAWA instills a sense of confidence in the students. This is especially true for the women who receive scholarships. Many are busy working and raising children, and greatly appreciate the opportunity to continue their education in Charlotte.

“Some of the women said that they had never heard of an organization that would give scholarships to women...they were very, very, grateful [for] that,” she said.

An Hour A Week
Foerster also teaches LAWA participants the importance of giving back to their new community. In Latin America, giving back often means giving money to charity. She tells her students that it’s even more important to volunteer your time and talents. Volunteering has always been a tradition in Foerster’s family, and working with LAWA has shown her exactly what a difference it can make.

“An hour a week makes a tremendous difference in our community because it could be used to write a letter or visit one of our scholarship recipients, or make a phone call that will bring money into our account so we can

See more about Bank of America's Neighborhood Excellence Initiative.

Rewards of hard work

Being a “big brother” to new students, renovating homes for the handicapped and donating food to the homeless already kept Charlotte Catholic High School student Zach Blake very engaged in his community. But all this activity wasn’t enough for this star student. Blake wanted to find another way to help.

Helping Soldiers
Blake founded his high school’s branch of the Wounded Warriors Project, which provides financial and emotional support to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was moved to start the club when a teacher’s son was wounded in action.

“My friend is trying to get into the military as we speak, and I come from a family where the military is prominent. So I definitely think [the military] is an important thing. There’s really not enough in our community giving back to them, and that’s something they deserve.”

For his hard work, Blake received a Bank of America’s Student Leader award, one of hundreds awarded through the bank’s Neighborhood Excellence Initiative.

"[The award is] one of Bank of America’s ways of recognizing people who really care about their community and want to make it better,” he said. “That’s really a great thing.” The award has encouraged Blake’s

At his school, the Wounded Warriors Project has grown to 90 student members and has raised money, hosted fundraising events and written letters of support to soldiers.

Blake credits his school and his parents for his commitment to community service. His dad is a physician whose practice serves families regardless of income. He has inspired Blake to pursue a career in medicine.

“It’s definitely hard work to participate in community service, but I feel like the rewards are huge. It’s not a

Inspired Learning
Blake’s internship was with Charlotte’s Freedom School Partners, an organization that provides quality after school and summer programs to at-risk students and families. Its programs are intended to improve academic achievement, reduce dropout rates and inspire a love of learning. The internship proved to be the most impactful of Blake’s extracurricular activities.

As an intern, he worked to improve students’ reading skills, which tend to slip when the academic year ends.

Blake appreciated the effort Freedom School Partners put into making the summer program enjoyable for students. They played games, took them on field trips and otherwise made learning fun. The students’ engagement pushed him to work harder.

A New Perspective
Blake’s trip to Bank of America’s Student Leaders

“Seeing all the other student leaders from across the nation showed me that I’m not the only person in the world doing community service,” Blake said. “There are other people just like me trying to give back to the community. It really inspired me to continue doing what I’m doing. I’m making a difference and [there are] people around me helping out just [like me.]”

See more about Bank of America's Neighborhood Excellence Initiative.

Neighborhood Excellence Initiative^® grants help improve educational opportunities in Charlotte

Freedom School Partners serves at-risk students and families living in poverty in Charlotte by providing after-school and summer programs aimed at improving academic achievement, reducing dropout rates and inspiring the love of reading. From 2005-2010, Freedom School Partners has increased capacity from 100 to 600 children annually. By partnering with local colleges and universities, Freedom School Partners has trained

Teach for America-Charlotte impacts 15,000 students every day in Charlotte; 91 percent of these students are persons of color and 74 percent are economically disadvantaged. Teach for America enlists our nation’s most promising future leaders in the effort to eliminate educational inequity. They teach in the hardest to staff subjects: Math and science, English as a Second Language, and special education, including students with severe emotional and behavioral disorders.

Freedom School Partners and Teach for America – Charlotte have been awarded $200,000 each by the

The grants are part of the Foundation’s Neighborhood Excellence Initiative^®, which operates in 44 cities in the U.S, as well as London.

The awards are part of ongoing effort by Bank of America to stimulate economic vitality in Charlotte and in communities across the nation, said Charles Bowman, Charlotte and North Carolina Market President for Bank of America. He said that the latest announcement brought the bank’s total commitment to Charlotte through the Neighborhood Excellence Initiative^® to $3.15 million since 2004.

Additional honorees: The Foundation also selected five Charlotte “Local Heroes” for their community service work: Frank Bragg, Ann Clark, Fletcher “Smitty” Flynn, Annelise Horst Foerster and Bobby Livingston. Each is able to designate a $5,000 charitable grant from the Foundation to the eligible non-profit of their choice.

Charlotte Student Leaders^® – five exemplary teens with a passion for improving their communities – were recognized in 2010 and participated in paid, eight-week internships at Charlotte nonprofits this past summer.

Stephaney Crawford on the Neighborhood Lending team was selected as the recipient of the 2010 Volunteer

Charitable “Playbook”: Bank of America, Carolina Panthers lend support for library system

Bank of America has teamed up with the Carolina Panthers to support a season-long fundraising initiative to support the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, which has been hit hard by the economy.

“To be able to support the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library through the sponsorship and partnership that we have with a first-class organization like the Carolina Panthers is a great thing,” said Charles Bowman, Bank of America North Carolina and Charlotte market president.

A $100,000 grant from Bank of America kicked off one of the library’s largest fundraising efforts this year. In addition to the grant, the bank and the Panthers initiated a campaign where cell phone users can contribute $10 to the library system with a simple text message. The bank will promote the program across Mecklenburg County at banking centers, libraries and at Bank of America Stadium, home to the Carolina Panthers.

“With our budget cuts this year, we have many places to put this money to the best possible use,” said Robin Branstrom, chair of the Library Board of Trustees, noting budget cuts of $10.6 million. “These donations and corporate support will help us reinstate some critical