MARIETTA - Bank of North Georgia, which has one Kennesaw and three Marietta locations, recently announced the winners of the bank's annual Volunteer Awards. The winner of the Volunteer of the Year Award was Matt Davis, Hiram branch manager, and the winner of the Volunteer Team of the Year Award was the Operation Hope 'Banking on Our Future' Team.

Bank of North Georgia will donate $1,000 to each of the nonprofit organizations represented by the team members to honor their volunteer service.

In 2009, Davis spent more than 100 volunteer hours serving as a co-chair of the board of directors with his wife, Kate, hosting dinners for the women served by this mission, raising money for the organization and investing time in executive leadership meetings to help direct the course of Wellspring Living.

Wellspring Living is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Tyrone that restores young women who are in desperate and hopeless situations and who want a life change. Most of the women who come through the program have a history of sexual abuse, which has directly affected the path their lives have taken. Wellspring's purpose is to serve victims of childhood trauma through the Wellspring Home, for ages 20-35, and Wellspring for Girls, for ages 12-17.

"The generous donation from Bank of North Georgia came at a critical time for Wellspring Living," said Mary Frances Bowley, president of Wellspring Living, Inc. "As the need for our services has greatly increased, this donation will be used to purchase much needed academic curriculum for our expanding education needs in the girls' program."

The Operation Hope 'Banking on Our Future' Team embraces Bank of North Georgia's commitment to educating children about banking and supporting the bank's CRA initiatives. In 2009, 27 team members served as volunteers and contributed more than 250 volunteer service hours.

They taught the 'Banking on Our Future' curriculum at three schools, including Park Street Elementary in Marietta. The program is broken into four modules including Basics of Banking, Checking and Savings Accounts, Power of Credit and Investments. This team also participated in the Rockdale County Jobs for Youth Summer Program. In total, they taught the 'Banking on Our Future' curriculum in 18 classrooms and reached out to more than 700 students, ages 9-24.

Operation Hope is a nonprofit organization that provides tools and services to inner-city and/or under-served communities. 'Banking on Our Future,' one of several programs of Operation Hope, provides financial education for youth ages 9-18 at no cost to the school districts. Targeted schools are those in which 50-percent or more of enrolled students qualify for free or reduced-price meals.

"Now more than ever teaching our youth sound financial principles and how to make good decisions with money is critical," said Jay Bailey, director of the Banking on Our Future program with Operation Hope. "This contribution will be used to improve our ability to deliver his dynamic program to our youth, provide better materials, more trained volunteers, which results in more students being empowered."

Bank of North Georgia's volunteer recognition program serves to celebrate team members who help raise the quality of life for us all through their efforts. The award winners are selected by the bank's Rewards and Recognition Committee following a formal nomination process that takes place over the course of the year.

The nomination process for the 2010 Volunteer of the Year and Volunteer Team of the Year award is well underway, with a deadline of Dec. 10. Fellow team members and supervisors may nominate an individual at Bank of North Georgia or a local nonprofit organization may nominate a team member who is serving as a board member or in a leadership capacity for a committee.

For more information about the annual awards, visit www.bankofnorthgeorgia.com. For more information about Wellspring Living and Operation Hope, visit www.wellspringliving.org and www.operationhope.org.