Michael Bushnell
Publisher
Central Bank of Kansas City is proud of their seven decades of investing in Kansas City.
It all started in 1950, when Central Bank of Kansas City was chartered as a state banking corporation. The first branch opened at 3030 Truman Road back in March of 1951. In 1975, ground was broken at 2301 Independence Avenue as the growing bank needed more space. That location still serves the Northeast Kansas City clients today.
Community is at the heart of what Central Bank of Kansas City does. This holiday season they are partnering with Eleo’s Coffee at 3401 Independence Avenue, collecting items for their annual Thanksgiving Food Drive to help insure our less fortunate neighbors can have a hot meal on Thanksgiving Day.
They are also partnering with Twelfth Street Heritage Development Company as a sponsor of the annual Santa’s Wonderland that will take place on November 22nd from 5-8pm at the Gates Plaza shops at 12th and Brooklyn. The staff helped sort toys last year and are sending volunteers this year as well.
One of the most important volunteer opportunities is with the MICAH Ministries program at Independence Boulevard Christian Church. Last year Central Bank of Kansas City team members sorted coats, hats and gloves for over 100 area children that received toys and clothing through MICAH Ministries for Christmas. The bank is planning on volunteering again this year as well.
The cb Cares Committee helped organize school supply drives for the students at Garfield Elementary School in the Pendleton Heights neighborhood.
Through the generosity of the staff, they were able to donate hundreds of pencils, notebooks, sharpies and note pads for 5th and 6th grade students to use during the 2023-24 school year.
“Here at Central Bank of Kansas City, we’re keenly aware that affordable housing is one of the key issues facing Kansas City’s urban core neighborhoods,” said Steve Giles, President and CEO of Central Bank.
Since its founding in 2021, The Lykins Neighborhood Trust has been a transformative power in the Lykins Neighborhood, targeting some of the worst blocks in the Historic Northeast community for revitalization.
Along with lending from Central Bank of Kansas City and the city’s new Affordable Housing Trust Fund, the Northeast Neighborhood Trust has been able to leverage over $1.25 million in equity from the Blitt family, the Marion and Henry Bloch foundation and the Hall Family Foundation to put that capital to work with acquisitions and renovations of additional properties, serving more residents at risk of displacement.
Central Bank of Kansas City, has been a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) since 1998. Through CDFI, Central Bank of Kansas City is able to leverage over $230 million, to create over 1,500 units in affordable housing over the past several years.
Also, as a CDFI the bank has been granted New Market Tax Credit Awards in which they have leveraged to support some recent non-profits Swope Health PACE Adult Wellness Center on Martin Luther King Drive and Welcome House, a non-profit, sober-living recovery provider near 27th street and The Paseo.
Central Bank of Kansas City at 2301 Independence Blvd., is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday (til 6pm in drive-thru), 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays, and 24 hours a day on their website www.centralbankkc.com, their upgraded app, or 24 hour access line
816-965-5573.
