CHARLOTTE, N.C. — LGBT and straight ally employees and officers of Fifth Third Bank say they are committed to giving back to the local LGBT community. Several bank staffers, including North Carolina Affiliate CFO Chris Carmichael gathered at Time Out Youth on June 6 as they launched their efforts to support the organization and other LGBT community groups.
Brian Wolfe, vice president of the North Carolina affiliate’s LGBT Business Resource Group, credited Carmichael’s and other top officers’ top-down support of the new efforts.
“This is why we started our business resource group and are reaching out to the community,” Wolfe told his fellow employees and Time Out Youth staff. “Fifth Third is going to be here backing this effort for a long time to come.”
Dwight Crawford, a Fifth Third mortgage loan officer, won the bank’s 2012 Star Award for Community Involvement. With the award, came a $1,000 prize. He opted to donate it to Time Out Youth.
“There was no question in my mind what needs do be done with this money,” Crawford said. “You all do great work.”
Fifth Third Bank’s Carolinas affiliate is among the last state affiliates to launch an LGBT employee group, said Wolfe. It started about two months ago. He said the bank plans to financially support a variety of local LGBT community groups and offer other support, such as volunteer hours. : :