Paducah Bank is pleased to announce that five agencies-- New Pathways for Children, the 4-H Food Backpack Program, the Paducah/McCracken County Senior Citizen Center Meals on Wheels program, the River City Mission, and Paducah Cooperative Ministry--will be the recipients of funds raised through the 2018 Paducah Bank Swipe & Serve Program.  The bank has already distributed nearly $150,000 to feed the hungry since the program began four years ago.

In addition, the bank will designate a portion of those contributions for the new Swipe and Heal program, an initiative specifically to support the students and families affected by the tragedy at Marshall County High School. “Establishing our Swipe & Heal program for Marshall County will provide designated funds in an effort to empower resources that will facilitate steps toward the healing process,” said Paducah Bank President Mardie Herndon. “We are inspired by the resiliency, compassion and hope that our communities share, and we are pleased to be able to provide what we feel will be meaningful support to our Marshall County neighbors.”

The Swipe and Serve program is in its fourth year. “In 2014, we began a partnership with our customers to support our commitment to the needs of the community,” said Herndon. “The need to provide food and food services for those who cannot manage to put food on the table for themselves or their families is obviously present in our community. We hope, with the help of all of our customers, to reach a goal of $5,000 bi-monthly which will provide much-needed assistance to these five local food programs.”

More than 750,000 Kentuckians, or 17% of the state’s population, do not always know where their next meal will come from. Close to one in four of Kentucky’s children lack consistent access to enough food for a healthy, active lifestyle. Paducah Bank is working to change that statistic.

For 27 years, New Pathways for Children has been committed to bringing hope to children in crisis. Last year, they introduced a mentoring and meals program for at-risk children.  Each week they offer free hot meals, clothing, and basic necessities to low income children. The meals are served by adult volunteers who offer encouragement and guidance to each child. New Pathways also operates a private residential group home for abused, neglected, and abandoned children. In 2017 they provided a home for 20 children, and served nearly 5,000 meals and thousands of additional snacks.

The 4-H Food Backpack program feeds more than 400 children every week in the Paducah City and McCracken County schools. The group feeds elementary through high school students with non-perishable items. The group works with the Family Resource Centers to identify hungry children in the schools. Student volunteers work with the 4-H project to retrieve and assemble the food items for final distribution to each of the city and county school’s hungry youth.

The Paducah/McCracken County Senior Center provides Meals on Wheels delivery for home-bound, senior adults in McCracken County. Last year, the Center delivered 19,691 meals to individuals over 60 years-old who were unable to leave their home and unable to prepare their own meals due to debilitating ailments. Many times, the delivery driver is the only human contact these individuals will have all day.

The River City Mission is a homeless shelter for single men and married families. The faith-based facility provides shelter, food, clothing and transportation for their residents, as well as employment assistance.They serve three meals a day to their residents, with an on-site cook preparing the food. They can serve up to 50 single men and eight families in their facilities.

The Paducah Cooperative Ministry has been providing emergency groceries to needy households in the city and county since 1973. Local administrators have noted an unprecedented increase in need since 2012. The Ministry often distributes a four-to-five day supply of food to households and families in need. PCM provides emergency groceries on more than 5,000 occasions each year.

“The project has been so successful that we are continuing it into 2018,” said Susan Guess, senior vice president of marketing. “With your help, we hope to exceed our goal of $30,000 again this year!”

Paducah Bank is an award-winning, locally-owned bank with banking centers in six locations in the city and county, and employing more than 130 people. Paducah Bank was named the Best Place to Work in Kentucky among medium-sized companies in 2006. In 2008, Paducah Bank was chosen by the Wall Street Journal as one of the nation’s Top 15 Small Workplaces and was named Best Bank in the Paducah Sun Readers’ Choice Awards in 2012, 2013, and 2014. Recently, the bank was named one of the Top 50 Banks in the nation for effective use of social media by ICBA. Paducah Bank was the only Kentucky bank to make the list.