The Philanthropic Spirit Award honors an outstanding individual or organization that fosters charitable giving and is dedicated to giving back to the Upstate in a significant manner.
The signs of its largesse are everywhere. TD Bank’s sponsorship signs appear everywhere from an afternoon at the ballpark to an evening of music under the stars, even a springtime festival showcasing homegrown artists. And those signs point to why the Community Foundation of Greenville and Community Journals honor the bank with this year’s Philanthropic Spirit Award.
“It’s on behalf of our customers and our employees that we accept this recognition and any recognition for what we do out in the community,” says David Lominack, the bank’s South Carolina Market president. “Things go full circle, right? When we give back to the community, the community does better, we all do better.”
Across the Palmetto State, 3,000 bank employees, of which 2,200 work in the Upstate, are known for “rolling up their sleeves,” he says. They volunteer thousands of hours each year, planting more than 250 trees, coaching Little League, and serving on boards, among other roles.
Lominack himself co-chairs the Greenville Racial Equity and Economic Mobility Commission, which the Greenville Chamber of Commerce, United Way of Greenville County, and the Urban League of the Upstate launched in 2020. Merl Code, the prominent Greenville lawyer who chairs REEM alongside Lominack, says the organization never would have gotten off the ground without the bank’s financial support.
“They believe in equality, they believe in inclusiveness, they believe in allowing all of those in the community to grow and prosper,” Code says. “We are so fortunate to have TD Bank as a citizen and as a community partner. They have opened their doors to philanthropic giving. And their personnel get involved in the kind of activities that enhance our community.”
By the end of this year, REEM aims to present recommendations for social- and economic-justice initiatives, Code says. Notably, he adds, the report will focus strictly on Greenville: “Who better to go to but the people who live in this community?”
Lominack credits the bank’s customers and employees for providing TD Bank the opportunities to contribute $1 million every year through sponsorships and grants from the TD Bank Charitable Foundation. Those include the TD Stage at the Peace Center, the TD Saturday Market, a partnership with the Greenville Drive, and many more. Gifts have benefited such nonprofits as the Metropolitan Arts Council, Habitat for Humanity, Goodwill Industries, YMCA of Greenville, the Urban League, and United Way, among dozens of others.
Artisphere, which produces the hugely popular spring arts fair, has received TD Bank’s support for 17 years, says Kerry Murphy, the festival’s executive director.
“You don’t have to look far around Greenville and the Upstate to see their commitment,” she says. “TD Bank’s contribution to the social and economic vitality of our community has played a critical role in the thoughtful development of a growing city where people are proud to live. “
And, as Lominack concludes, “There are just so many great organizations that are doing a ton of good work, and it’s just fun to be a part of it.
