Golden Belt Bank hosted a ceremony on Sept. 3, 2025, at their main location in Hays, Kansas, to present a $10,000 check to Heartland Community Foundation for its Ellis County Disaster Fund. Golden Belt Bank received the inaugural grant through FHLBank Topeka’s Community Assistance Recovery Effort (CARE) Program.
Golden Belt Bank is one of the longest-standing members of FHLBank Topeka, with a partnership starting in 1934. The CARE Program was created in 2025 to help FHLBank member financial institutions support their communities after a FEMA-declared disaster. The program matches $3 for every $1 an FHLBank member contributes to disaster relief efforts.
“Community financial institutions are at the forefront of supporting their communities through difficult times. We designed the CARE Program to amplify the contributions our members are making when a natural disaster occurs,” said Jeff Kuzbel, President CEO of FHLBank Topeka. “We are honored to award the first CARE grant to Golden Belt Bank, a member with long ties to their community and our cooperative.”
Heartland Community Foundation, the recipient of the funds, serves Ellis, Rooks and Trego counties in northwest Kansas. In late 2020, after a severe storm swept through their community, the Heartland Community Foundation created the disaster fund. The fund has granted more than $40,000 since it began to help organizations who support community members during a disaster. Among many other needs, funds have been used to secure downed fencing for livestock, provide temporary hotel stays for displaced families and pay insurance deductibles for storm damage.
Jessica Kerr, Chief Compliance and Marketing Officer for Golden Belt Bank, heard about the new CARE Program during a session at FHLBank Topeka’s Annual Member Conference in April 2025. A FEMA-declared disaster – a severe winter storm – had just occurred a month earlier in the area. She came back to her bank and went to work on the one-page application.
“We’re grateful for our longstanding partnership with FHLBank Topeka and proud to work together to support the Heartland Community Foundation’s efforts for disaster preparedness,” said Christopher Wente, Golden Belt Bank’s President and CEO.
