Farmers and Merchants Bank Marketing & Community Relations Administrator Amber Henry (from left), Human Resource Employee Experience Manager Shonda Litty, and VP, Loan Officer Zack Lashley present Baxter Regional Medical Center with a check for $5,000 on April 29, 2021. Representing the BRMC Foundation are Diahanne VanGulick, Coordinator, Mruk Family Education Center on Aging, Melissa Hudson, Coordinator, Peitz Cancer Support House, Cindy Costa, Director of Development, Baxter Regional Hospital Foundation, Stefany Isham, Coordinator, Schliemann Center for Women’s Health Education and Jodi Bodenhamer, Coordinator, Reppell Diabetes Learning Center.
The Baxter Regional Hospital Foundation will benefit from a $5,000 donation from Farmers and Merchants Bank. North Arkansas Marketing and Community Relations Administrator Amber Henry, Human Resource Employee Experience Manager Shonda Litty and VP and Loan Officer Zack Lashlee presented the check on April 29.
The gift will support the Baxter Regional Medical Center’s four unique community health education and support houses. Foundation initiatives that will be supported include women’s health education, programs for senior citizens, and support for patients and families coping with cancer or diabetes. Thanks to the tireless work of the hospital foundation, the majority of programs and services offered are free of charge to the local community.
“We are always happy to help the hospital in any way we can, especially during the trying times they continue to face,” says Brandon Scallion, Farmers and Merchants North Arkansas Market President. “Baxter Regional Medical Center, its foundation and their 1,700 essential employees are pillars of our community, and we look forward to growing our partnership in the future.”
The Baxter Regional Wellness & Education Center plays a critical role in the physical and emotional wellbeing of the North Arkansas area. Despite restrictions related to the pandemic 10,215 individuals visited the houses in 2020 for education programs, exercise classes, support groups and services. More than 8,500 individuals accessed services over the phone. Additionally, more than 1,070 resources, which includes items such as wigs and turbans, Alzheimer’s caregiver toolkits, breast pumps and diabetes supplies from Reppell Center, were distributed to residents.
“On behalf of the Baxter Regional Hospital Foundation and the Baxter Regional Health & Education Community Support Houses, we wish to thank Farmers and Merchants Bank for their generous and continued support,” says Cindy Costa, BRMC Foundation Director of Development. “Without community partners such as Farmers and Merchants, the vital programs at the four Support Houses simply would not be possible.
“As we quickly found out, even during a worldwide pandemic, the services that are provided are crucial. Cancer doesn’t stop, diabetes doesn’t go away, issues with aging must be maintained and the struggles women face continue. We are proud to provide, at no cost, nearly every service that the Mruk Family Education Center on Aging, Peitz Cancer Support House, Reppell Diabetes Learning Center and the Schliemann Center for Women’s Health Education have to offer – to the people in Mountain Home and all the surrounding areas. You will not find four support centers such as these anywhere else in the nation,” Costa adds.
Farmers and Merchants Bank, headquartered in Stuttgart, is a locally owned, community bank with 26 locations across the state of Arkansas, including eight operating as The Bank of Fayetteville. With assets in excess of $1.6 billion, Farmers and Merchants is the 10th largest bank chartered in Arkansas.
Since 1988, generous donors in the community have ensured Baxter Regional Hospital Foundation’s success in providing ongoing funding for Baxter Regional Medical Center. With their financial support of the latest medical technology, facility upgrades, healthcare scholarships and the community health education and support houses, Baxter Regional Hospital Foundation is devoted to the health needs of our community.