Forcht Bank donates $19,000 to W’burg school district

Various officials with Forcht Bank and other local dignitaries were on hand Friday morning at Williamsburg Independent School to make a $19,000 donation to the school system. The money will be combined with $19,000 in school district technology funds to purchase approximately 70 new computers for the school’s media center.

A local bank’s investment in the future will result in two new computer labs for a small school district.

As part of a joint project, Forcht Bank donated $19,000 Friday morning to Williamsburg Independent School, which will add $19,000 of its own technology funds, to purchase $38,000 worth of new computers for the school media center. The nearly 70 computers will enable the school district to replace every computer in both computer labs at the school media center.

Williamsburg Superintendent Dr. Amon Couch said that the new computers are badly needed.

“This is a real game changer for our school district in regards to technology. Technology is one of those things that you must continually find opportunities to reinvest and stay current,” Couch noted. “This allows us to do basically a wholesale rebate instantly. Instead doing it incrementally over a number of years, this enables us to push a major parcel of technology out into the hands of kids immediately, which is what we need.”

Couch said that some of the existing computers in the media center are better than others, and the district will re-condition some of those computers for use in other places, such as teacher workstations in the classrooms.

Couch noted that he would especially like to thank Terry and Marion Forcht, who are the founders of Forcht Bank and Forcht Group, for the donation.

“Their generosity is amazing. With the $19,000 we are getting today, we are going to couple that with $19,000 we have and basically buy $40,000 worth of machines or technology for our students,” Couch noted. “We would not have been able to do this without the help of the Forchts. We are just very, very thankful.”

Forcht Bank President and CEO Tucker Ballinger said that it is exciting to see the improvements and changes that this donation will help bring.

“We believe that if you give back to the community markets that you serve then everyone prospers,” Ballinger said. “What better way to give back to the community than to make a contribution to the school that is going to have an impact on kids that is what it is all about.”

Ballinger said that Forcht Bank officials look forward to coming back in six months or a year to see the children working on the new computers and what it has meant for the school.

Forcht Bank Business Development Officer Donnie Patrick, who is a Williamsburg alumnus and former member of the school board, said the bank’s donation means a lot.

“It is a game changer for the kids here. Mr. and Mrs. Forcht always want to provide things for the community for our future customers actually. We want to grow them from the small ones all the way up and let them know that we give back to the community always,” Patrick said. “It is unreal what Mr. and Mrs. Forcht do for the communities they are in. We just appreciate them so much for being willing to come and help our school.”

Ballinger noted that not only are many of these children going to be customers in the future but some of them will also probably go on to become Forcht Bank employees.

Patrick also saluted Couch for thinking outside the box and asking community partners for assistance in meeting the needs for children in the district.