By Tom Rohrer
Few things in life are more enjoyable than ice cream on a warm, sunny day.
With the Thurston County weather complying, Umpqua Bank provided the delicious dessert yesterday to complete the classic combination.
On Wednesday, May 7, Umpqua Bank’s ice cream van visited Mountain View Elementary School in Lacey and then Panorama later in the afternoon.
Umpqua Bank employees from the downtown Olympia and Lacey branches served free ice cream to over 650 students at the school, part of the bank’s relationship with Mountain View Elementary through the Partners in Education (P.I.E.) program. Providing the students at North Thurston Public Schools a tasty break from state testing was a rewarding experience for all involved.
“It’s just great to see the smiles and the laughter,” said Ray Foisy, the Manager for the Olympia and Lacey Umpqua Bank branches. “The children didn’t know they were going to get ice cream and you could see their surprise. Since they’re going through testing, we know it’s really enjoyable for them to take a break with ice cream.”
Foisy, who worked for Sterling Bank nine years before the recent merger with Umpqua, flew to Spokane this past weekend to pick up the ice cream van that was in use Wednesday. He then made the cross-state journey on Monday morning.
“My wife lives in Spokane. I’m from there so it was a pretty easy decision for me to be hired to do it,” said Foisy. “I honestly was more nervous about how we would handle handing out (ice cream) to all these kids than the drive.”
“It’s a long trip, but you get some fun waves from people driving an ice cream van,” he continued. “Everyone loves the ice cream (van),”
The expressions on the Mountain View student’s faces made it very clear how they felt about Umpqua’s kind gesture. Classes were ushered out to the van (which was parked near the school’s outdoor play-shed) one at a time. Music blared from the van’s speakers, giving the students and the volunteers even more reason to dance.
“You can just see it on their faces,” said Foisy. “They are having a blast.”
Immediately after the stint at the school, Foisy traveled to serve a much different demographic.
“We’re hitting two different generations,” Foisy said with a laugh. “I’m not sure the Panorama residents will have the same energy, but I know they will enjoy the ice cream a lot.”
One of Umpqua Bank’s missions is to be “a bank that acts like a neighbor.” By participating in a variety of volunteer projects and partnering with local schools, that mission is being accomplished.
“You’re going to see more and more ice cream vans pop up across the state. Now there are three, but there could be seven in the near future,” Foisy said. “We want to do whatever we can do to help our community, and this is all part of that goal.”
For more information on Umpqua Bank, visit www.umpquabank.com.
