Banks played a large part in funding the recovery from last year’s tornado, and one of the banks that gave the most was PeoplesBank, which pledged $200,000 in corporate funding.

PeoplesBank gave $50,000 to the Red Cross; $25,000 to Square One, a Springfield education and family services nonprofit; $25,000 to the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts; $80,000 toward the “re-greening” of affected areas; and $25,000 to various other causes.

Doug Bowen, president and CEO of Holyoke-based PeoplesBank, said in the wake of the storm, it was easy to see there would be a lot of work to do.

“It was hard to believe we were seeing what we were seeing,” Bowen told Banker & Tradesman. “Seeing it on TV, you could literally see it come across the (Connecticut) river. You could actually see (the river) reverse course as it came across. We were amazed at the path of destruction. Two blocks over, everything would be just fine, but then you’d come along the path and, there was just so much devastation.”

Bowen and his wife, a nurse, toured the Red Cross’ emergency operations center just after the storm.

“What we were really impressed with was just the passion and dedication of the Red Cross volunteers. It was almost palpable, and the place was buzzing,” Bowen said. “They had brought in emergency volunteers from all across the country.”

“We wanted to do something substantial,” he added. “We talked to them about what the immediate needs were and how we could help. That led to our first donation, our first dollars went to the Red Cross, and a little bit later, we made a second donation to the Red Cross.”

‘Still A Lot Of Work To Do’

But the bank’s donations were about more than money. And they were guided by PeoplesBank’s 250 employees themselves.

“Employees were looking for a way to funnel their passion to do something to help. Employees were involved, some with immediate activities,” Bowen said. “Later on in the year, we did a toy drive, the employees arranged that for the tornado victims around the holidays.”

Many of those employees had close calls with the tornado. Brady Chianciola, assistant vice president and regional manager, lives in Springfield’s East Forest Park neighborhood with his wife and three children.

“We’re really lucky,” Chianciola told Banker & Tradesman. “The tornado came within 200 yards of my property. We had two trees on our property, but neither one of them fell on the house. We were home at the time.”

“It was like in the movies, you know? You walk out and look to your left and everyone is coming out at the same time to look at the damage. It was pretty surreal. Luckily, we weren’t hurt,” Chianciola continued. “None of our neighbors were hurt, but a lot of times, customers come in and they have tears in their eyes.”

“There’s still a lot of work to do,” Bowen said. “You’re hearing more hammers. There’s different projects and different dollars are coming in, and you’re starting to see some movement forward. It shows the perseverance of the community, but it’s a long way to go. The trees are being planted, and now that they’re starting to leaf out, it’s kind of a sense of renewal. Obviously, it’s going to take a while for these trees to become the stately trees that were there before, but it’s a start.”