Cedar Springs Health Center – October 18, 2016

(LtoR) Chris Shea – Cherry Health CEO,  Dorothy Weller – Weller Family Foundation, Denise Gates – ChoiceOne Bank, Tasha Blackmon – Cherry Health COO, CSPS Superintendent Dr. VanDuyn, Kristina Paliwoda – Cherry Health – Cedar Springs School Health Center Manager

Cherry Health Foundation and Cedar Springs Superintendent accept donation check from ChoiceOne Bank. Left to right: Chris Shea, CEO Cherry Health; Sharon Barton, Director of Development Cherry Health; Tasha Blackmon, Chief Clinic Operations Officer Cherry Health; Patricia Brown, Regional Manager ChoiceOne Bank; Jim Bosserd, CEO ChoiceOne Bank; Denise Gates, Cedar Springs Manager ChoiceOne Bank; Laura VanDuyn, Ed.D., Cedar Springs Schools Superintendent.

ChoiceOne Bank is providing a donation totaling $50,000 over two years to Cherry Health, an independent nonprofit and comprehensive primary health care provider. Jim Bosserd, Chief Executive Officer of ChoiceOne Bank, said the money is targeted to fund an overall project totaling $1.17 million, and will go toward two projects in Cedar Springs and Grand Rapids and.

“As the local community bank, it’s important for us to support our families and our communities,” said Bosserd. “Cherry Health provides services to all individuals, regardless of their ability to pay. A sliding fee payment scale based on income and family size is available to those with no insurance. Healthy families make for healthy communities. That’s important to us at ChoiceOne Bank.”

The projects in Cedar Springs and Grand Rapids and will develop facilities to expand services at these two sites.

In the Red Hawk Building in Cedar Springs, services are provided to all 3,500 students and their siblings throughout the district ages 3 to 21. The facility offers a wide range of services from medical to behavioral, which allows for accessible care when and where students need it. Students and families are currently being served at the health center through the summer and into the 2015-2016 school year.

Innovation Central High School in Grand Rapids will move its medical facility from City High Middle School to Innovation Central, which serves approximately 800 students in Grand Rapids. The health center will care for all students ages 10 through 21.

ChoiceOne Bank officially announced the completion of its remodeled Cedar Springs branch office with a ribbon cutting ceremony on July 24.

“We are pleased to provide a more open and convenient layout for our customers,” said Kelly Potes, President of ChoiceOne Bank. “The new design is also consistent with the look of our other ChoiceOne branch offices in the communities we serve.”

The Cedar Springs branch, located at 4170 17 Mile Rd NE, now features a more visually appealing office that is consistent with other ChoiceOne Bank locations from Fremont to Rockford. The remodeled facility offers greater convenience, including a more open branch lobby area and a repaved parking lot.

The project was completed in a manner to ensure little disruption to business during the remodeling, and allowed the bank to maintain full operation throughout the process.

“As the local community bank, it’s important to have a strong and consistent presence in the communities we serve,” said Potes. “We are very pleased with these renovations and thank our customers for their patience during this remodeling project. We invite all to stop by for a visit. We improved our branch office so we can better serve the Cedar Springs community.”

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Bank teller Genda Farnsworth working with kids on their piggy banks during the money smart program at the Cedar Springs Library. Courtesy photo.

The Cedar Springs Library partnered with ChoiceOne bank and the Kent County MSU Extension to educate preschoolers about money on April 18 and April 22. Age-appropriate books, including Max and Ruby in “Bunny Money” and the Berenstein Bears in  “Dollars and Sense” were the delight of 32 children and their parents.

Every child had “Bunny Money” amounting to $10. Throughout the book, Max and Ruby spent a dollar here, a dollar there until all their dollars were gone. The children were very engaged as they spent their Bunny Money a bit at a time, handing it in to ChoiceOne Bankers Stacey Helsel and Genda Farnsworth, as Children’s Parapro Kelly Roach took them through their $10 shopping spree.

Children received gift bags from the bank, a copy of “Dollars and Sense” from MSU, and made a piggy bank to take home, along with 10 pennies each to drop in the slot on top.