Fayette Savings Sets Up Accounts to Help Hostyn, and Explosion Victim
Fayette Savings Bank has set up two relief fund accounts to aid in the recovery from the tragic June 9 explosion and fire that destroyed the Queen of the Holy Rosary Church in Hostyn and seriously injured a parishioner.
One account is for the church rebuilding fund and a separate account is for the injured parishioner, Verlene Kuntschik.
Fayette Savings Bank opened and administered similar accounts in 2017 when floods from Hurricane Harvey inundated the Knights of Columbus Hall and Second Chance Emporium in La Grange. Matching fund accounts eventually raised $121,150.00 for the KC hall and $112,935.91 for Second Chance. Fayette Savings Bank and its board of directors donated $10,000.00 to the “match” side of each account, and other donors soon followed with contributions to the match, so when a person made a $100.00 donation, it turned in to $200.00 to the fund with the match.
“Obviously, the numbers show that the 2017 campaign was an overwhelming success,” said David Zapalac, FSB CEO. “Instead of us making a $10,000 donation directly to the KCs and Second Chance, we designed the matching funds campaign to allow it to grow even more. And once the word got out to the good people of our area, others joined in and it gained momentum from there.
“Like everyone else, we were devastated and heartbroken when we heard of the tragic explosion and fire at the Hostyn church the morning of June 9th,” Zapalac said. “And once we found out Verlene (Kuntschik) was the injured parishioner, it really hit home – as Verlene worked for our bank for 28 years before retiring in 2011.
“We immediately began talks of setting up matching funds accounts like we did before for the KCs and Second Chance,” Zapalac continued. “We contacted Victoria diocese officials and the Kuntschik family to be sure they were OK with us doing so. We obtained approval from each party on Wednesday, June 15 and opened the accounts the same day.”
Fayette Savings Bank has donated $5,000 to the “matching side” of each account so that donations from the public will immediately be matched/ doubled when made. An anonymous donor has also donated $10,000 to the match side of the church fund account.
“Anyone, an individual, a group, or an organization wishing to donate to the matching side of either account can do so with a minimum donation of $5,000,” Zapalac said. “Amounts less than that will be a donation that will get matched, up to the amount balance in the match side.”
Donations can be made at any Fayette Savings Bank banking center in La Grange (call (979) 968-9511), Flatonia (call (361) 865-2875), Schulenburg (call (979) 743-6541) or Weimar (call (979) 725-1030).