Still Local, Still Solid, Still Finding the Bright Moments in Life: Our 2024 in Review
As 2024 winds down to its final days, it is sometimes tough to find the good in the past 365 days. For us at Stillman Bank, the bright moments in our year will always come from serving our local communities. We are honored to have been able to support numerous community initiatives. In the spirit of a new year, we have chosen to share some of our bright moments of 2024, in hopes that this will cause a ripple effect in others to reflect on the positives of this past year.
Fraud Prevention Presentation and Q&A at Rock River Center
With fraud on the rise, we were pleased to partner with the Rock River Center for a Fraud Prevention presentation and Q&A session in January. Stillman Bank Senior Vice President Pat Donahue and Stillman Bank Compliance & BSA Officer Brad Hertzner spoke to attendees about how to protect themselves against the many types of fraud we are currently facing.
Habitat for Humanity Stud-a-Thon
We were happy to partner with Habitat for Humanity of Ogle County for their first-ever Stud-a-Thon fundraiser! As part of this fundraiser, the bank sponsored 2 wall studs that were used in their build in Davis Junction in 2024. Personalization/decoration of the studs was encouraged, so we displayed the studs in our Ogle County lobbies to give our customers an opportunity to make monetary donation and autograph the studs. Employees were also welcome to participate as well. With this fundraiser, we were able to donate an additional $132.74 to Habitat for Humanity of Ogle County.
Online and Mobile Banking Upgrades
Our Digital Banking Suite (Online Banking, Mobile App, and Bill Pay) was upgraded in February to a more simple, seamless, and secure platform! Our customer satisfaction is our top priority and this upgrade was designed to deliver an improved online banking experience and make managing your finances even more convenient.
Build-a-Bike Belvidere
We were excited to sponsor and participate in this year’s Build-a-Bike Belvidere event in May! Stillman Bank employees were on-site and assisted in the building of two bikes for youth in the community.
Rock River Valley Blood Center Mobile Blood Drives
We partnered with the Rock River Valley Blood Center and hosted two successful mobile blood drives – one at our Roscoe office and one at our Byron office. We are excited to share that between the two drives, 58 people stopped by the bus and donated blood, whether by appointment or walk-in! RRVBC is the sole supplier of blood products and services to 14 hospitals in the Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin regions so every donation matters! As up to 3 lives are saved by one pint of blood, 150 local lives were saved from these drives!
Community Shred Day
In June, we hosted a free Community Shred Day at our Stillman Valley and Byron offices! The shred truck was onsite to allow the community to safely dispose of personal documents & information to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft. This year, we had 267 people participate and we shredded roughly 8,000 lbs. of paper!
Local High School Scholarships
Our Stillman Trust & Wealth Management department was honored to present scholarships to five local high school students.
Four area high school seniors who are interested in pursuing a career in medicine were presented with $2,200 scholarships on behalf of the William E. Eickman Scholarship Trust. In its 29th year, the scholarship fund was established by former Stillman Bank President, William E. Eickman as a way to give back to the Ogle County community. Eickman was always grateful to the people of Ogle County for their support, recognizing that they were the reason for the bank’s success since 1882.
Additionally, a local Hononegah High School senior was awarded the Jean Hausvick Memorial Scholarship. In its inaugural year, the Jean Hausvick Memorial Scholarship was established to honor the life of Jean Hausvick, a 1967 graduate of Hononegah High School. She held the position of Retail Office Manager at Stillman Bank in Roscoe and had celebrated 50 years in banking before passing away unexpectedly on May 6, 2023. The scholarship, funded by Jean’s husband Ken and the employees of Stillman Bank, ensures Jean’s generous spirit will live on in the Roscoe/Rockton community for years to come.
Purchase with a Purpose
In July, we held our fifth “Purchase with a Purpose” Debit Card Campaign in which a $1.00 donation was made to local charities with every Stillman Bank Debit Card transaction up to $15,000! We were excited to be able to present checks for $2,500 to 6 non-profit organizations throughout the Rock River Valley: Foundation for Focus House, “Hoo” Haven Wildlife Rehab & Education Center, Maggie & Amos Foundation, Marshmallow’s Hope, Serenity Hospice & Home, and Shining Star Children’s Advocacy Center.
Festivals & Parades
We were excited to sponsor four local festivals this summer/fall and participate in three parades!
Back-to-School Supply Drive
With the help and generosity of our customers, employees, and community members we were able to donate 12 large totes and 3 bags FULL of various school supplies to Remedies Renewing Lives! These totes consisted of numerous school items including 26 backpacks, 129 folders, 170 notebooks, 1,154 pencils, 113 boxes of crayons, 164 glue sticks, and much more! Remedies, the only domestic violence shelter in Winnebago and Boone counties, provides a variety of domestic violence program services to around 2,000 adult and child survivors of domestic violence, approximately 25% of which are children. With these donations, children who utilize Remedies will have access to the supplies they need to have a successful school year!
2024 United Way Workplace Campaign
Stillman Bank and our employees generously over $16,000 to United Way in 2024! This monetary gift came from a variety of bank-wide initiatives including individual employee donations, Jersey Day, and a corporate contribution.
FHLBank Chicago Accelerate Grants
In partnership with FHLBank Chicago and its Community First® Program, we were honored to award two local businesses: an Accelerate Grant for Small Businesses, both totaling $15,000!
Headquartered in Rockford, Whispering Willow Pet Funeral & Cremation Services is owned by Nick and Kate Capriola. With Kate being a funeral director and embalmer for more than 16 years, they first saw the need for end-of-life care for pets in the Rockford region after their dog Bella suddenly had to be euthanized. Whispering Willow Pet Funeral & Cremation Services offers pre-arrangements, in-home euthanasia, on-site cremation, as well as senior pet and end-of-life photography. They also work hand in hand with local veterinarians to provide preferred services to their customers.
Little Hubs Learning Center, an accredited and licensed daycare center, opened its doors on January 3, 2023. The facility is owned by Ron and Joni Spartz and their daughter, Kristin Spartz Barlow, serves as Director of the learning center. Children ages 6 weeks to 12 years old are welcomed into the Little Hubs Learning Center off of 15th Street in Rochelle, which has a 142-child capacity.
United Way Day of Caring
We were excited to sponsor as well as volunteer at the United Way of Ogle County Day of Caring in September. Day of Caring brings together volunteers from local companies and organizations to help United Way partner agencies with done-in-a-day projects. Through this year’s Day of Caring, volunteers were able to tackle service projects at five sites in Ogle County. Six Stillman Bank employees volunteered to make blankets at Serenity Hospice and Home for this year’s Day of Caring.
Best of Ogle County 2024 & What Rocks in Rockford 2024
The Ogle County Life and Rochelle News Leader announced their 2024 Best of Ogle County Reader’s Choice winners in October and we are so honored to be voted:
Best Bank
Best Financial Planning Services
Best Mortgage Lending Services
Best Customer Service
Best Place to Work
Best Loan Officer | Diana Davidson
In addition, we were excited to be voted a Finalist in TWO categories in this year’s Rockford Register Star’s “What Rocks” Community’s Choice Awards contest:
Best Bank
Top Employer (101 – 500 employees)
Halloween Events
This October, we sponsored and participated in three local Halloween events. Our employees had a wonderful time on-site at these events, handing out candy to the kids or assisting them while they played Plinko to win a prize.
Village of Roscoe’s Truck-or-Treat
Belvidere Chamber of Commerce Downtown Trick-or-Treat
102.3 The Coyote and SuperHits 93.5 Trick-or-Treat Safe House
Holiday Giveaway
In December, we continued our 60-year tradition by giving away 3 pork halves and 3 beef quarters bank-wide with our annual Holiday Giveaway. Congratulations to our 2024 winners!
Beef Quarter – Bev Bjorklund (Byron), Kathy Burright (Oregon), Alicia Medine (Rochelle)
Pork Half – Linda Sanders (Davis Junction), Karen Enke (Rockford), Linda Rooda (Roscoe)
We thank each of our employees and you, our customers, for your continued support! In the end, at our core, we’re a hometown bank that for the past 142 years has truly been living, working, and investing in the betterment of the place we all call home. Here’s to continuing to look at the bright side in 2025!