Dollar Bank Supports Brighter Futures with The Education Partnership

Since its inception in 2009, The Education Partnership, formerly known as Storehouse for Teachers, has been providing free school supplies to teachers in underserved school districts.

“The concept of The Education Partnership is to take excess products, corporate excess and repurpose it to help underserved schools,” Josh Whiteside, Executive Director of The Education Partnership said. “Ever since we were founded, we’ve grown to try and meet the needs of students and teachers in underserved schools throughout southwestern Pennsylvania by providing the classrooms with all the materials they need.”

“The Adopt-A-School program is our very specific effort of making sure there’s a direct opportunity for businesses, organizations and community members to help schools in need and to support classrooms. Adopt-A-School provides every student within a specific school with individual kits of school supplies.”

Adopt-A-School started in 2014 as a pilot program according to Whiteside. “Dollar Bank has been a supporter of the Adopt-A-School program for over five years,” Whiteside said. “But the support started with Standard Bank, and got even stronger once Standard Bank was acquired by Dollar Bank.”

The Education Partnership Advancement Director Kiki Reis, echoes Whiteside’s of Dollar Bank’s support.

“When Standard Bank was acquired by Dollar Bank, Dollar Bank really took the charge and continued the relationship within the schools that Standard Bank was sponsoring, Arsenal Middle School and Sunrise Elementary, and also took on Westinghouse High School.”

Dollar Bank volunteers build and deliver over 300 kits for the schools each year as part of the Adopt-A-School program. The Adopt-A-School program has also helped Dollar Bank connect further with schools to help identify additional materials the teachers may need.

“Our Adopt-A-School partners can move beyond our connection and find out what the needs are in their school and address those. The school had a need for headphones that could be used for their English as a second language students,” Reis said. “Dollar Bank was able to help purchase the supplies for the students and to meet that need. It highlights the importance of supporting schools in a deep and meaningful way. That school has now transformed because they have those materials that they didn’t have before.”

Andy Hasley, Chief Banking Officer, helped form the relationship between Standard Bank and The Education Partnership, remaining deeply connected to the cause as the organization grew over the years. “A good education is the foundation to any individual’s success — education is one of those gifts you can give to somebody and never take away from them. At Dollar Bank we believe in investing in our communities, our neighborhoods and the people who live there for everyone to grow and thrive,” Hasley shared. “The Education Partnership’s impact has been incredible. It went from just an idea to a true source of strength, helping over 75,000 students every year. We truly believe in their mission and are honored to call them a partner.”

“Andy Hasley has always been one of our key champions within the banking community and in the community at large. It comes down to everyone at Dollar that participates in making the community a better place and we’re thrilled to be part of that equation,” said Whiteside.

While the Adopt-A-School program provides students with supplies directly, The Education Partnership also helps teachers get needed supplies to make sure their classrooms are ready for success through the Teacher Resource Center.

“The Teacher Resource Center is our largest program by volume. It is a large free shopping center for all teachers and school professionals in our program at least twice a year,” Whiteside added. “They’re able to stock up on about $250 of basic core school supplies and $750 on other materials for their classroom, from pillows and chairs to calendars, projectors, games, food snacks and even clothing. Whatever that teacher needs to provide for their specific students so they can focus on learning is what we are going to give away. We are trying to influence student outcomes in the classroom, and we have learned that it is best done by serving that teaching population. If teachers can walk out our door feeling supported, their students are going to be fine.

When you give a student the ability to do classroom work or the ability to explore something creatively, they are going to do it. If we can create a space where a student wants to be and they show up, the rest can take care of itself.”

The Education Partnership has grown beyond just providing basic school supplies to students and teachers. The STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) Hub, which supports the ever-growing educational technology needs, provides access to tools, materials, events, training, partnerships and collaborations that increase student engagement in the STEAM curriculum.

“It is our programmatic effort to get those more specific, high-tech, expensive devices into the hands of our teachers and our students,” Whiteside said. “Any teacher can procure any of the items we have in our library and run curriculum in their classroom for six weeks at a time. We have kits on everything from coding to robotics, all the way to 3-D printing, sewing and everything in between.”

The STEAM Hub goes beyond just technical support for classrooms. “The STEAM Hub is also how we provide professional development opportunities for our teachers,” Whiteside said. “We have direct access and the trust of 11,000 teachers and other school professionals in our program which allows us to connect them with professional development opportunities within the community for free.”

About Dollar Bank

As the nation's largest mutual bank, Dollar Bank has been empowering the communities and customers we serve for 170 years. Our more than 90 locations throughout Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio and Virginia provide a comprehensive range of personal, small business and corporate banking solutions. We continue to invest in our customers and strengthen our communities through financial education programs and partnerships with organizations who share our dedication to building opportunities for all. As of March 2025, Dollar Bank reported total assets of $11.5 billion, total loans of $9.1 billion, and total deposits of $9.5 billion. For more information, visit Dollar.Bank.