Sunflower Bank

Sunflower Bank recently awarded its Volunteer of the Year honors – recognizing four employees who devote hundreds of hours of their time and efforts within their communities.

The Volunteer Star awards are given annually, and this year’s recipients each tallied more than 200 hours volunteering during the past year. As a bank, Sunflower Bank encourages its employees to spend time helping and aiding their community, and each year, Sunflower Bankers are fixtures within their respective communities’ efforts. All told, Sunflower Bank employees totaled more than 23,000 hours of volunteer time.

Sunflower Bank’s Tammy Fesmire received the Volunteer of the Year award for 2006. Fesmire, a commercial lender in Pueblo, and spends numerous hours each year contributing her time and energy to the improvement of the Pueblo community. She is active as a member of the St. Mary Corwin Hospital board, the Pueblo Downtown association, the Pueblo Chamber of Commerce, the Latino Chamber of Commerce, the Pueblo schools and the United Way. Tammy’s many, many hours of volunteer work over the past year have brought out the best in the Pueblo community and its members.

Dina Hinchman, a customer service representative at Sunflower Bank Lawrence, also received a Volunteer Star award. Hinchman works closely with several causes in Lawrence, and is a board member for Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Headquarter Counseling Center. She is a member of the planning committee and a walker for Light the Night Walk, a member of the St. Patrick’s Day parade committee, a member of the Young Professionals Organization and has volunteered for the Ballard Community Center auction.

Another Volunteer Star, Cheryl Itschner of Sunflower Bank Salina, contributed hundreds of hours in Salina working with Cub Scouts, the March of Dimes, United Way, school events, Meals on Wheels, Relay for Life and Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Finally, Patrick Salmans of Sunflower Bank Salina also received Sunflower Bank’s Volunteer Star of the year. Salmans devotes time to several local causes, such as the United Way Committee, Boy Scouts, Salvation Army football, youth recreation baseball, Salina HR Management Association, Volunteer Mock Interviewing for K-State Salina and Smoky Hill Education Center, and he is a Chamber of Commerce team host.

“It’s a tribute to the spirit and heart of our employees,” said Phyllis Pickel, EVP-Marketing, who presented the awards at Sunflower Bank’s annual Christmas party in Salina on Sat., Dec. 17. “Sunflower Bank employees are focused on bringing out the best in the lives they touch and creating possibility within all our communities.”