Customer Service, Community Involvement Drives Fifth Third Bank

By Vanessa Orr

In January 2005, Fifth Third Bank, headquartered in Cincinnati, OH, opened its first office in the Pittsburgh area. Now at home in 12 communities in Allegheny, Westmoreland and Washington counties, the bank is preparing to expand its facilities even further.

“Right now, we’re on track to continue this growth, opening six to eight financial centers a year,” said Jill M. Sandilla, senior vice-president retail executive. “We recently opened centers in Bridgeville and Upper St. Clair, and we’ve acquired and plan to open more banking centers in Aspinwall and on the North Side. We’re also exploring opportunities in the South Hills.”

Customer service, especially in the form of specially tailored programs and local decisionmaking, are the hallmarks of Fifth Third Bank. “As new as we are, we have many customized products and services in all areas of the bank, including retail, indirect lending and merchant processing, commercial lending and investment services,” said Sandilla. “Because we are able to make decisions locally, it enables us to first determine what our customers’ needs are, and then figure out what products and services we can tailor to those needs.”

This is especially good news for nonprofit organizations, who not only find support through the bank’s corporate contributions such as Fifth Third’s sponsorship of the Eighth Annual ‘Rainbow and Roses’ dinner for Mother’s Hope, but through its specially designed Charitable Management Services department. “Many nonprofits come to us looking for support, and they’re all worthwhile, but we can’t fund everyone,” said Bernadette E. Smith, senior vice-president, senior portfolio manager, Fifth Third Bank Investment Advisors. “Through Charitable Management Services, however, we can offer these organizations a range of services including investment management, endowment or foundation asset management, and the creation of planned giving programs.” The bank also supports its employees’ volunteer contributions to local nonprofits.

Fifth Third Bank can also provide temporary support for clients’ charitable events, such as the Race for the Cure. “We can set up remote deposit services to handle event registration checks, or provide short-term credit card processing at the event for very low or no cost to our clients,” said Sandilla.

“What we hear most from our nonprofit clients is that they get lost at larger institutions,” said Smith. “They come to us because they want good service; they want a bank that returns their phone calls and answers their questions.”

Mother’s Hope is one nonprofit benefiting from Fifth Third Bank’s emphasis on making a difference in the communities it serves. “Cathy Howe and her husband Jim invited us to the organization’s annual dinner last year, and their cause became near and dear to my heart,” explained Sandilla. “Their mission to help children with cancer really hit home, and their work to help children in Bosnia meant a lot to me because of my Yugoslavian heritage.”

Established by Howe in 1998, Mother’s Hope was created to support the needs of children both at home and abroad. The charity offers emotional and financial assistance to families who have children suffering from cancer in western Pennsylvania, and provides support to the child refugees of Bosnia-Herzegovina whose lives have been shattered by war.

“When my mother passed away in 1994, I traveled to Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina where the Blessed Virgin Mary appears daily,” explained Howe. “While I was there, I visited a refugee camp. What I saw made me feel numb—I can’t even explain the atrocities of war. When I came home, I had a huge hole in my heart, and I knew that I needed to help those children.”

In 1995, Howe organized a Walk for Peace at the Civic Arena to raise awareness and money for the plight of Bosnian orphans. She was helped by National Hockey League superstar Jaromir Jagr, a native of the Czech Republic. Unfortunately, soon after, Howe was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. “I was watching TV, and KDKA was interviewing kids at Children’s Hospital, and there was a little girl who had the same disease,” said Howe. “I had the same feeling then that I had at the refugee camp—I knew I had to help.”

In 1998, Howe established Mother’s Hope and implemented its annual fundraising dinner. This year’s Eighth Annual Night of Hope, A Rainbow and Roses Benefit Evening will be held on September 5, 2008 at the Westin Convention Center and Hotel, and continues to be a dream come true for Howe.

“Mother’s Hope Foundation and Fifth Third Bank are hard at work to make this year’s benefit the best ever—we are blessed to have them as our corporate sponsor,” said Howe. “The dinner and auction give the Pittsburgh community a chance not only to meet Honorary Chairman Pierre Larouche, Peggy Finnegan, Mike Clark, Bob Pompeani and other well-known celebrities who support the foundation, but also allows them to truly make a difference in the lives of suffering children.

“It is a privilege and honor for me to be the executive director of the Mother’s Hope Foundation—it is the hardest thing that I’ve ever done in my life, but the most rewarding,” she continued. “Each year when I walk into the dinner, I see the faces of the children in the refugee camps and the suffering of the little ones with cancer, like two-year-old Connor Vickers and five-year-old Logan Eger. They are truly the stars of Mother’s Hope Foundation.”

For more information on Fifth Third Bank, visit www.53.com or call 412-291-5555. For more information on Mother’s Hope, visit www.mothershope.org or call 412-278-HOPE.