Patricia M. Lawber Education Endowment Fund

During her 50-year career at Mercantile Bank, a lot changed for Pat Lawber. When she started as a bookkeeper in 1962, she had to look up each individual check by hand to verify dates, amounts, and signatures.

While technology has changed, the importance of education has been a constant.

As a long-time mentor for third grade students at Dewey school, she has first-hand experience witnessing early education’s impact. She likes that third grade students are “willing to learn as much as possible.”

With this in mind, Pat began an Acorn Fund at the Community Foundation. An Acorn Fund is a seedling that in time will grow to become permanent. It did not take Pat long to bring the fund to maturity. Now endowed, it continues to help young students in Quincy providing support for classroom curricula.