Range Bank donates $8k of supplies to Upper Peninsula schools

MARQUETTE — With COVID–19 affecting local schools like never before, a local bank decided to step in to help.

Range Bank has donated $8,000 worth of supplies to schools across the Upper Peninsula through a supply drive.

Throughout fall, the bank asked for donations from the community, to help ensure the youth is prepared to learn.

“We’re a community bank, and so we’re very community-focused and oriented,” said Hanna Westra, Marketing and Public Relations Specialist for Range Bank. “The schools just needed some extra help this year. This year’s been hard on everyone, but the youth is our future, and so we just felt like we needed to do something extra special.”

Through their donation site, Range Bank collected $3,000 worth of monetary donations and school supplies from community members. The bank matched that total with an additional $5,000 contribution.

Funds were used to purchase items like snacks, facial tissue, hand sanitizer and masks, along with backpacks, notebooks, pencils, and more.

The schools that benefited from the supply drive were Calumet Public Schools, Hancock Public Schools, Houghton Portage Township Schools, Adams Township (Jeffers) School District, and Lake Linden-Hubbell Public Schools in the Copper Country; Iron Mountain Public Schools, Breitung (Kingsford) Township Schools and North Dickinson County School in Dickinson County; and Ishpeming Public Schools, Marquette Area Public Schools, Negaunee Public Schools and the NICE Community School District in Marquette County.

This was the first year Range Bank held this drive, and due in part to its success, they plan on holding it in the future.