Frankfort resident Alicia Creech recalls the fond memories of when her mother was living and children were younger. Warm summer days were often spent playing on a nearby Salvation Army playground inside Kiwanis Park.
Creech moved back to this neighborhood about two years ago, and she often drives by the fenced in recreational area.
It was built along Belair Drive between residential homes and the Salvation Army near the place where Creech’s mother lived.
“We were sad to see the state of the dirty equipment and disrepair that the grounds had fallen in,” Creech, who works as an Independence Bank teller, recalled.
The playground area, which includes a small rock wall, a couple of slides and a swing set, had been left unkempt.
The interest in making improvements date back to more than a year ago prior to the original COVID-19 outbreak.
Independence Bank President, Greg Burton, serves on the Salvation Army advisory board just as his father, Morris, did. Morris was also a nearly life-long Kiwanis Club member.
“It tugged at my heart to go on the Salvation Army advisory board,” Greg Burton said.
The idea for improvements was revisited in May of 2021.
The Morris Burton Memorial Playground, which had been waiting months, was about to make a transformation.
The Bank saw the need and bought new mulch through buzz funds, which are available for community centered projects. It also found volunteers to take on several tasks.
“Every day, I have the opportunity to build relationships with groups and individuals that have a heart to serve the community of Frankfort as I do,” Holly Brunson, Independence Bank Manager, says.
One Friday in late May, roughly a dozen Bank volunteers visited the area to clean and disinfect the attraction.
“Before the cleanup project, I rarely saw children playing there because of the dirty equipment,” Creech described. “The ground was muddy and weed laden due to the absence of mulch.”
Salvation Army leaders and volunteers, with support from those in the Kiwanis Club, came alongside our team on Saturday to help spread new mulch.
“I am reminded every day that it is everyone’s job to do some good in our community, to make things a little bit better than the way we found it,” Brunson shared.
The result has been revitalizing.
Creech says in the months since the cleanup, she has seen many children and families in the community utilizing the space.
“It warms my heart to know that the wonderful, community driven Bank that I work for has made it possible for many people to make fond memories at this playground like my children and I have in the past,” Creech expressed.
It could have been simple to shift priorities at this point in the coronavirus pandemic and take interest in new projects that crossed Independence Bank’s path. However, the need never went away and neither did the commitment.
The Bank is compassionate about customers and the communities in which they work and live. This assurance was recently acknowledged by being named Frankfort’s “Favorite Bank.”
This top award was claimed after the community voted in an online poll.
Independence Bank prides itself on community involvement and is here for good.
Visit one of two locations at either Capital Square on Versailles Road or the West location on U.S. Highway 127 South.
