Corporate Champion Spotlight: Kearny Bank

Kearny Bank, one of St. Joseph’s Health Foundation’s newest Corporate Champions, made its first gift to St. Joseph’s at the height of New Jersey’s COVID-19 pandemic—a generous and meaningful commitment when our healthcare system needed it most. We recently spoke with Eric Kesselman, 1^st VP/Director of Marketing at Kearny Bank, about Kearny Bank and its impactful response to the current public health crisis:

Tell us a bit about Kearny Bank and how the organization has evolved over the years.
We’re extremely proud of Kearny Bank’s history, both in terms of duration and sustained growth. We were founded late in the 19^th century as a community savings bank in a small town less than four miles outside of New York City. Since then, we’ve expanded—steadily, carefully—to the point that we now have offices in 10 New Jersey counties, plus Brooklyn and Staten Island. Spanning parts of three distinct centuries, we’ve regularly adjusted to changing times, to ensure that our clients always had exactly the personal and business bank they needed.

Can you provide some examples of how Kearny Bank supports charitable organizations throughout the communities you serve?
Kearny Bank is deeply committed to supporting communities in which it has the privilege of conducting business. We seek to make people’s lives better, and that means focusing on a variety of sectors, including healthcare, education, financial literacy, and much more. We take great delight in utilizing the rewards of our success to raise up people and towns all across New Jersey.

What sparked your first gift to St. Joseph’s Health?
Kearny Bank’s donation to St. Joseph’s Health came at an extremely challenging time—the spring of 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic was spiking throughout the state. Witnessing the heroic, inspiring efforts of frontline healthcare personnel, we elected to contribute to several north and central New Jersey organizations, with St. Joseph’s receiving our largest donation. It was quite clear to us that the team at St. Joseph’s was battling the virus with a unique level of courage, initiative, and medical insight.

What alignment do you see between Kearny Bank’s philanthropic priorities and the mission of St. Joseph’s Health?
With our philanthropic donations, Kearny Bank focuses on enhancing the lives of everyone residing in a community where we have the privilege of conducting business. Given St. Joseph’s impressive commitment to improving and protecting the health of residents of Paterson and surrounding areas of northern New Jersey, it’s easy to see a natural synergy. St. Joseph’s strives to enable people to live better lives, and Kearny Bank is proud to contribute financially to that ongoing effort.

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