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Paragon Employees Dedicate 500 Hours to Community in 2012

02-07-13

Paragon National Bank announced that its employees spent more than 500 hours volunteering in
the community last year. Through the bank’s Assisting the Community Through
Service (ACTS) program, each Paragon employee is granted one week of paid time
to support local, regional and national nonprofit organizations of his or her
choosing. The ACTS program is one part of Paragon’s community outreach efforts,
which also includes the bank’s company-wide support of several nonprofit
organizations around the Mid-South.

“One of Paragon’s guiding
principles is service, both in our branches and in the community,” said Robert
Shaw, Chief Executive Officer of Paragon National Bank. “The bank itself
supports several community organizations, but we made the Assisting the
Community Through Service program available since the bank’s inception in 2005
to allow our employees to pursue their personal volunteer interests. Our team
has truly embraced the program and we continue to be proud of their efforts.”

The bank began tracking employees’
use of ACTS time in 2008 and since then, the team has contributed more than
2,000 hours to dozens of community organizations around the Mid-South. In
addition to offering employees time to volunteer, Paragon also helps interested
team members identify a nonprofit to support. In late 2012, the bank held an
internal lunch and learn event, where Kacie Murley shared information about
tnAchieves with attendees.

Tracey Thesmar, Vice President,
Controller at Paragon National Bank, helped organize the informational lunch
event for interested employees. Thesmar, one of 30 employees who used ACTS time
in 2012, became a mentor in the tnAchieves program when the program began in
Shelby County in 2011. During her first term, she mentored two students from
Raleigh Egypt High School and one student from White Station High School. Additionally,
Thesmar served as the tnAchieves Mentor Coordinator for the Junior League of
Memphis (JLM), which helps contribute volunteers for the program.

“I find the work I’m able to do
for tnAchieves very rewarding and I’m happy to play a part in helping employees
find an organization they care about too,” said Thesmar. “Having the ability to
volunteer during business hours is rare and doing so allows me the flexibility
to do more in the community. It’s extremely generous of Paragon to grant us the
time and I plan to continue to make the most of it.”

In addition to tnAchieves,
employees used ACTS time in 2012 to support Agricenter International; Boy
Scouts of America; Corporate Volunteer Council – Volunteer Mid-South; Hawkins
Mill Elementary School; Junior League of Memphis; Komen Memphis-MidSouth Race
for the Cure; Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital; Make-A-Wish FoundationÒ of the Mid-South; Memphis Child Advocacy Center;
Memphis Urban League; Memphis Symphony Orchestra; Metropolitan Inter-Faith
Association; Mid-South Division of the American Cancer Society; Orpheum Theatre
Memphis; Ronald McDonald House of Memphis; Shelby Farms Park Conservancy;
Tennessee Housing Development Agency; United Housing, Inc; and United Way of
the Mid-South.

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