Arvest in Kansas City will host a Food Drive to benefit Harvesters, a food bank which serves 26 counties across northwestern Missouri and northeastern Kansas.  Harvesters has a network of more than 620 non-profit agencies, including emergency food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and homes for abused and disabled individuals and children.  This network provides food assistance to as many as 66,000 different people each week.

The Food Drive will take place November 1-19, and donations of canned or non-perishable food items can be made at eight Kansas City area branches.  A virtual Food Drive will also be available at arvest.harvesters.org for those who wish to make a monetary contribution.

Drop Off Locations:

6300 Nall Ave.                   14300 Metcalf Ave.           127 W. 10th St.
Mission, KS                       Overland Park, KS            Kansas City, MO

11150 Pflumm Rd.           7401 W. 135th St.             705 Woods Chapel Rd.
Lenexa, KS                        Overland Park, KS            Lee’s Summit, MO

10685 Mission Rd.            328 E. Main St.
Leawood, KS 66206         Gardner, KS

Arvest will donate $1 per pound of food donated during the drive, up to $1,000, and encourages those interested in supporting Harvesters to learn more about the organization and their programs by visiting www.harvesters.org or by calling (877) 353-6639.

Volunteers are continuing to work on the River Valley Habitat for Humanity home in Fort Smith, AR.  As you can see, it has taken on a new look. The house has been completely wired for electric, insulated, and the sheet rock has been hung and primed. A group of volunteers will begin painting this week.

We would like to thank all the Habitat volunteers and associates who have helped. Be sure to check the Arvest blog for another update on the progress of the home.

If you would like more information about Habitat’s home ownership program or to find out more about how you can get involved, call the Habitat office in Fort Smith at (479) 782-8255.  Or, to get involved with Habitat for Humanity in your area, call their national toll-free number at (800) 422-4828.

Arvest Bank branches in North Central Arkansas are holding a food drive from October 18 through November 19, 2010 to benefit six area food pantries.

Anyone donating three or more non-perishable items will be registered
to win one of three Thanksgiving turkeys being given away.

To donate food items, simply drop them off at any one of the nine Arvest branches located in Boone, Baxter or Marion counties.  Nonperishable foods, canned soup and pastas, as well as dry boxed food such as macaroni and cheese, packaged noodles and pasta sauces, are welcomed.  The collected items will be distributed to the Mountain Home Food Basket, Bull Shoals Food Pantry, Yellville Food Closet, Ozark Share & Care, The Church on the Rock’s Food Closet and Good Neighbor’s Food Cupboard in Diamond City.

Tiffany Watkins, marketing director for Arvest, said, “Many of our local food pantries don’t have enough provisions to make it through the holiday season, yet they are a critical resource for the hungry men, women and children in our communities. We encourage anyone and everyone to donate what they can to this important food drive.”

In 2009, the Arvest Food Drive collected 919 pounds of food for area food pantries.  This year’s goal is to collect over 1,000 pounds of food.

Customers with an iPhone, iPad or iTouch device can now download the new myArvest iPhone application - free from Arvest Bank.  The myArvest app provides an update to the previous Branch & ATM Finder app.  The new updated application includes:

• Branch & ATM Finder - Locate nearby Arvest branch locations and ATMs using your device's GPS function.  Address and driving directions are provided from your current location.  Color coded map pins tell you if the branch is open or closed.
• Personal Finance Calculators - Over 40 personal finance calculators to help you with everything from buying a home to budgeting for the holidays.  Use these tools to help pay off debt, save for expenses or make sound financial decisions.
• Arvest News - Keep up with local community events, product news and other articles from the Arvest Blog.
• Current Rates - Look up current Arvest deposit rates for checking, CDs and Money Market accounts.
• Customer Connect - Using your device's GPS, find the nearest local customer service phone numbers and email contact information for personal assistance.
• Links - Quick links to arvest.com, Arvest on Facebook, Arvest on Twitter and Arvest Career Opportunities.

The application is available for download in the iTunes App Store and is free to users.  The Arvest Mobile Banking app for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad is also free and available in the App Store. Arvest Mobile Banking is a free service and is supported on Apple products, Droid, Blackberry RIM and other devices.  Click here for more info.

The Washington County Habitat for Humanity build has come a long way the past few weeks, as the nice weather has allowed for volunteers to come out and help the Sanchez family with their new home.

As you can see from the pictures below, the tresses are up, which means volunteers can start work on the roof! This is an exciting time for Arvest and Habitat for Humanity as the house starts to take shape.

For more information about Habitat’s home ownership program or to find out more about how you can get involved, contact the Habitat for Humanity - Washington County.

Arvest Bank in North Central Arkansas drew the winner of ‘Great $1010 Giveaway’ on October 15, 2010.  Mountain Home resident and Arvest customer, Robert Hofmann’s name was drawn from over 200 entries.

Any new customer opening an account and two services or any customer adding two services to an existing account at any North Central Arvest Bank locations between August 1 and September 30, 2010 was automatically registered for the drawing.

Tiffany Watkins, marketing director for Arvest, stated, “At Arvest we are excited to be able to reward our customers for banking with us.  We take pride in the relationships we form with them and think that the Great $1010 Giveaway was just one more way to show our appreciation to those who make us successful.”

Arvest Bank recently opened a new ATM pavilion located at 201 West Central Avenue in Bentonville, AR.

The pavilion, built to enhance the facility and compliment the other projects and facilities in the downtown square area, includes an ATM machine as well as offering two seating areas and bike racks. The area is also landscaped with a variety of shrubbery, grasses, flowers, and maple trees.

If you are in the area, please stop by the downtown square and enjoy our new pavilion!

On Friday, October 8th, the Fort Smith Chamber of Commerce held a Business Expo at the Phoenix Expo Trade and Event Center.  The Expo was open to the public and gave businesses the opportunity to set up a booth to showcase their products and/or services.

This year’s theme was "Hollywood" and "Put your business in the spotlight."  The Arvest booth was decorated as a popcorn concession stand, and Arvest associates popped fresh popcorn and gave it out all day while visiting with guests about products and services that we offer.