Freedom Bank President and CEO Gerry Anthony
(right) presents school supplies to Sarah Bailey
and Renee Hayes.

(BRADENTON, FL - October 11, 2007) Inside the big blue armored truck from Freedom Bank there was a bounty of backpacks, pencils, paper and other school supplies ready to be delivered to the Manatee District's Teacher's Wishing Well.

The supplies were collected and donated by employees and customers of Freedom Bank, an independent community bank with five branches located in Manatee and Sarasota Counties. The Teacher's Wishing Well is a place where Manatee District teachers can go to pick up additional school supplies without having to spend money out of their own pocket.

“Our focus at Freedom Bank is being involved and helping out in our community,” said Gerry Anthony, President and CEO of Freedom Bank. Anthony's children attended Manatee County schools.

“I've always been a strong supporter of school activities,” Anthony said. “Education forms the basis for our future, so we want to do whatever we can to help out.”

When officials at Freedom Bank learned of the Teacher's Wishing Well, they decided to begin collecting school supplies at their five branches, according to Vice President Andi Franco.

“We had a competition where each of our branches built their own wishing well,” Franco said. “Our employees began bringing in school supplies to donate and pretty soon our customers started asking if they could help out. We were amazed at some of the levels of giving.”

On Thursday, October 11, 2007, Renee Hayes, Purchasing Manager for the School District, and Sarah Bailey, an Associate Buyer for the District, went to Freedom Bank's Headquarters in Bradenton to receive the donations.

“We are really thankful for the generosity shown by the employees and customers of Freedom Bank,” Hayes said. “Our teachers are going to be really excited to see all of these wonderful supplies.”

Bailey said the Teacher's Wishing Well, which is open from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. on the first Saturday of every month, has been attracting over 100 teachers each month. On a recent Saturday, there were close to 160 teachers who came to pick up supplies.

The Teacher's Wishing Well is located at 3405 5th St. E., in Bradenton.