Core Bank’s community involvement isn’t a box to check, but a reflection of who its people are. Through its Community Impact Program, the Core Bank team has brought together decades of volunteerism, grassroots passion, and intentionality into one single-minded mission: to give where you live.
“As a community bank, we feel the responsibility to invest in the communities we’re a part of—the communities that we serve,” says Lindsey Wedel, Chief People Officer at Core Bank. “We want to see progress, development, and resilience. The Community Impact Program is how we help support that.”
While the program formally came together in 2022, many of its bigger community engagements, such as the Christmas Families Donation Drive, predate it by decades. Over time, Core Bank consolidated many such long-standing events under one umbrella while fostering space for other employee-led ideas to grow.
“We had a few of these things that were really long-standing,” Wedel says, “and we wanted to put them under one umbrella and see if there were other organizations that could benefit from the passion our people have.”
That passion has proven contagious.
In 2024, Core Bank employees helped raise more than $22,000 through their annual golf tournament for the Nebraska Diaper Bank. In 2025, that number rose to nearly $25,000—enough to diaper over 1,600 babies. “Some of our people have found their passion for that organization and recruited others,” Wedel says. “It’s evolved from simply dropping off diapers to hosting wrapping parties and, now, a full-fledged fundraiser.”
The same can be said of their participation in the Polar Plunge for Special Olympics Nebraska. In 2025, the team had 51 plungers and raised $27,440. “We make it fun. There’s always a theme, there’s a cookout, and people bring their families,” Wedel says.
Wedel said the secret to Core Bank’s success is no secret at all. It’s cultural. “It’s a combination of bringing in the right people, providing opportunity, and making it fun.” That mindset has made events like the Polar Plunge and Diaper Drive not just effective, but magnetic.
But Core Bank’s community support goes beyond dollars as employees are given VTO, Volunteer Time Off, as well as $100 Core Care Dollars to give where they see fit.
“Giving money is wonderful, but some folks are passionate about giving their time,” Wedel says. “We want to make it easier for them to step away from work and serve without having to dip into PTO.”
The impact has been wide-ranging: serving meals at Open Door Mission, supporting local high schools, stocking food pantries, or even buying groceries for a stranger using Core Cares Dollars. Some employees even pool their funds to make a bigger impact. “It’s really employee-led,” she says. “We’ve seen the heart and generosity of our people shine through these programs.”
Wedel is as much a part of that culture as any other employee. Having helped coordinate the Christmas Families Drive for more than 15 years, one memory still sticks out to her: a mother and her children had fled a domestic violence situation and just moved into a new apartment.
The school counselor passed along their holiday wish list, which was mostly filled with essentials. Core Bank employees donated generously, wrapping seven or eight bags full of gifts.
These bags are usually delivered through the schools, but due to complications, Wedel and a few coworkers had the rare opportunity to give them in person.
“We showed up with the gifts wrapped in big trash bags. The apartment was nearly empty,” she says. “By the time we brought in the last load, the mom was just in tears. That was a rare moment where we saw the direct impact—and it was deeply moving.”
And while being able to give is great, Wedel says the many programs are about growing together. For instance, the Core Bank Cares scholarship program awarded $14,000 this past year to students across the Omaha, Elkhorn, and Papillion-La Vista school districts as part of the organization’s focus on Bright Futures.
The bank also awarded $5,000 each to the Woolf Pack Fund (through the Omaha Public Schools Foundation) and the Junior League Kitchen Connections Program.
“We see where there are gaps in our community, and we rush to fill them,” Wedel said. “The passion of our people, the generosity of our people—that’s a big part of who we are as a community bank.”
Whether serving meals, wrapping diapers, or leaping into freezing water, the team at Core Bank continues to rise to the challenge. “It’s always the goal to outdo ourselves,” Wedel said. “And our folks always do.”