Shareholders of The Martha’s Vineyard Co-operative Bank and corporators of Dukes County Savings Bank have approved plans for the two institutions to merge, bank officials announced.
This fall, the Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank Charitable Fund awarded $20,250 in grants to 10 nonprofit and community groups, to fund programs in support of the arts, education, the elderly, community affairs, health care and youth programs.
Martha’s Vineyard’s two community banks face hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra costs as a result of increased demands from the federal agency charged with protecting customer deposits.
The two local banks, the Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank and Edgartown National Bank, neither of which was complicit in the reckless financial practices which precipitated the banking crisis, will nonetheless have to pay increased fees to help bail out customers of banks which go bust.
The Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank Charitable Fund, a donor-advised fund with the Permanent Endowment for Martha’s Vineyard, has awarded seven grants totaling $13,800 in support of local nonprofits.
Grants went to the Island Food Pantry and fuel assistance for Islanders through the Oak Bluffs Council on Aging as well initiatives of the Adult and Community Education Program of Martha’s Vineyard, the Aquinnah Cultural Center, the Martha’s Vineyard Film Society, the Martha’s Vineyard Museum and the Yard.
