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Category: Front Page News Front Page News
Published: 01 December 2014 01 December 2014

Photos and Article by Mary Alice Murphy

"For at least 10 years, 1st New Mexico Bank has done Christmas Santa for the students at Sixth Street School," Lisa Serna, 1st New Mexico Bank vice president said.

"We give every student a toy," Mary Ybarra of marketing said. "The employees who wear jeans on Fridays pay into a fund for the purpose. And later in the year, we do it on Thursdays, too. We also sell piggy banks to raise money every year.

"What comes from that are the gifts," Ybarra continued. "All the tellers wrap the gifts after they have put batteries in them. It looks like Santa's Workshop."

Employees of 1st New Mexico Bank go to the school on the last day of school before Christmas to give the students the gifts.

"Every year, the teachers have the students make the decorations for the tree in our lobby," Ybarra said. "The teachers bring the decorations, put them on a tree and bring a pot luck meal we share."

(Editor's Note: Check out the this year's decorations when you visit 1st New Mexico Bank.)

In addition to these activities, the teachers have the students in grades kindergarten through fifth grade draw Christmas cards for the bank to choose from. Every year, bank employees choose a winner from each grade. Each of the six winners receives a $25 Wal-Mart gift card. Those cards become the Christmas cards that the bank sends out to its customers each year.

Ybarra and Serna said the "jeans money" also goes to help students who may need shoes, glasses, a backpack, whatever the need. "The school will call and let us know, and we pay for the item out of the fund," Serna said.

At the end of each school year, the fund also pays for a party for the school students. Every year, it's either a hot dog or hamburger feast, with all the trimmings, chips and a soda. Each student also receives a T-shirt with the Sixth Street School logo on the front and 1st New Mexico Bank on the back.

Every year, the bank provides water and snacks to students, if a disaster of some sort causes a lock-down at the school

"What sparked the idea for me happened when I was working at a bank in Roswell," Sean Ormand, 1st New Mexico Bank president, said. "It was called Partnership for Education and was a formal program. After I came back to Silver City, and when Frank Quarrell was assistant superintendent, I asked him which school struggled the most to get support from businesses. After looking into it, he called me back and said Sixth Street School.

"We want to benefit them, and we've learned a lot from them, too," Ormand continued. "We feel it's our social responsibility to be part of their lives. It's not about us; it's about them—giving them role models in the business community.

"I challenge other businesses to adopt a school or a classroom," Ormand said.