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Woodforest Charitable Foundation Donates $3,000 to Over-The-Rhine Kitchen

Over-The-Rhine Kitchen Receives $3,000 Donation

Photo Caption:Woodforest Bank branch managers from across the state joined Kim Marling, Executive Director of Woodforest Charitable Foundation and Patricia Wakim, Executive Director of Over-The-Rhine Kitchen.

CINCINNATI, Ohio (September, 2009) – Over-The-Rhine Kitchen welcomes a $3,000 donation from the Woodforest Charitable Foundation.

With Ohio’s unemployment rates hitting a new high at 9.5 percent, hundreds of thousands of residents may be at risk of hunger (Bureau of Labor Statistics).  Woodforest Charitable Foundation’s recent contribution will help support Over-The-Rhine’s mission of alleviating hunger in their community.

The Over-The-Rhine Kitchen, which was founded in 1976, is the oldest operation of its kind in Cincinnati. It began when Father Tom Bokenkotter, seeing that 80% of the residents in the Over-The-Rhine neighborhood were living below the poverty level, recruited a group of volunteers.  With just $700 in the bank, they started serving warm meals in a building on Main Street.  In 2003, the operation was moved to its current location on Vine Street, where a hot meal is served five days each week.

The Kitchen continues to be a welcoming and positive place that serves over 81,560 meals per year to the poor and homeless in the area.  “We salute Woodforest National Bank’s employees for not turning their back on the sad realities of life; the working poor, the homeless, the elderly poor and the mentally ill.  It is our goal to continue to provide a safe and welcoming environment where individuals and families will be served a daily hot meal and receive groceries on a monthly basis.  We deeply appreciate receiving the donation of $3,000 from the Woodforest Charitable Foundation,” said Patricia Wakim, Executive Director of Over-The-Rhine Kitchen.  “Thank you for walking with us in our mission to care for those less fortunate.”

For more information about Over-The-Rhine Kitchen, please call (513) 241-5121 or visit the Kitchen’s website at www.overtherhinekitchen.org.

The Woodforest Charitable Foundation was created by Woodforest National Bank in 2005 as a direct result of its desire to support and invest in the communities in which it serves. The Foundation is creating a legacy of commitment to those in need, enriching lives and communities through dedicated leadership and faithful administration by providing funding to qualifying 501(c)(3) charities. For additional information regarding The Woodforest Charitable Foundation, call (832) 375-CARE (2273) or visit the foundation’s website at www.woodforestcharitablefoundation.org.
Celebrating 30 years of service and ranked among the top earning banks in the United States, the Woodforest family of banks currently has assets of approximately $3.2 billion and services more than 770,000 customers with branches in excess of 700 throughout fifteen states: Texas, Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. For information about Woodforest National Bank, please call 832-375-2000 or visit the bank’s website at www.woodforest.com.