Choice Bank and Sweetwater Band Strike a Chord to Raise funds for Veterans’ Honor Flights

Decades after serving their country, many veterans never get the chance to visit the memorials built in their honor. The Honor Flight Network ensures they do, providing free trips to Washington, D.C., for those who served. After talking with Jill Callander, VP, Cash Management Sales Officer at Choice Bank, we’re delighted to tell you about a way Jill and others were able to give back to this wonderful organization, through their talents & connections.

Out of high school, Jill played in a band called Sweetwater with some friends from the Fargo-Moorhead area. At her son’s wedding reception last June, there was a live band. After talking with some of her fellow band members at the wedding, Jill joked, “Wouldn’t it just be fun to put the band back together for one night?” Rick Adams, fellow member of Sweetwater, who still performs in the Fargo-Moorhead area, had a performance set up for himself in April at the American Legion in Moorhead. After talking with Jill and other band members, he reached out on a whim to the American Legion and asked to bring the whole band together for the night instead of performing solo.

The night of their performance arrived quickly.

“We practiced Friday afternoon, and we hadn’t been together for 40 years, so it wasn’t ‘oh, we are going to be amazing,’ but rather, ‘oh, this is going to be a fun night!’” Jill said. That is precisely what the night was. That afternoon, the American Legion hosted purse bingo to raise money for the Veterans Honor Flight of ND/MN. Jill and the band decided that if they received any tips that night, they would also donate them to this awesome cause.

“Interestingly enough, there ended up being around 500 people there and we made $2,500 in tips,” Jill said. The whole band was delighted with the money they were able to make in support of the Honor Flight, but Jill wasn’t going to stop there.

“Hey, maybe I can see if Choice Bank would match the $2,500!” she exclaimed. “Working at Choice, I know that this is a part of our core values to better the places we live. I thought this would be a great way to tie Choice into a fun thing we did, while also benefiting one of the non-profits in the community.”

Jill’s grandfather served in World War I and her father served in the Korean War. Having a history of family in the military, she knew this was truly going to feel like a “full-circle story” for her.

Although Jill has been living in the Twin Cities for 40 years, she said, “Fargo-Moorhead is still home to me. To bring that full circle moment of us getting the band back together to do something fun in the community and then be able to work at a company like Choice, where I can really tie in our company’s core values of bettering the places we live, it’s so fun!”

This story was one fantastic way that the Sweetwater band got back together on a whim, and ended in support of a truly astonishing event, The Honor Flights.

At Choice Bank, part of our People First promise means supporting our veterans. We host an annual Hotcakes for Heroes fundraiser in Bismarck to support veterans in hospice care. We also offer a VA Home Loan program to help veterans purchase a home.

There are many ways to donate to the Honor Flights, and they even do a coming home event in Fargo where people can come in and welcome the Veterans home. If you are interested in donating or aiding in volunteer work with the Veterans Honor Flights Network of ND/MN you can learn more about it here: veteranshonorflightofndmn.org.