Bob LaFrance: Giving back, p. 2

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6ob component of the job, equally important is deposit and cash management services." LaFrance said he's enjoying banking. "I've always been on the cutting edg£ of change with the bank," he said. "My career has been a constant progression so the challenges are continuous." Despite a busy career, LaFrance has always found the time to get involved in the community. "What we found moving around is that it's always beneficial to be involved with that community. We have met great friends and have helped do some things for those communities," he said. Moving around also reaffirmed how "nice the Quinte area really is...I'm glad to be home." LaFrance has been heavily involved in local minor sports while his two sons, Dan and Steve, played rep and junior hockey. In 1987, he helped found the Rotary Club of Sidney, now known as the Rotary Club of Quinte Sunrise. He served as club president last year and remains on the executive as immediate past president. "I have enjoyed not only the fellowship of the club but I'm also very proud of the accomplishments of the club and the contribution it has made back to the community," he said. The club, for example, has generated more than $160,000 for the local cancer society through its annual Curl For Cancer fundraising event. Its other fundraising ventures have also funded such organizations as Almost Home, food banks, Salvation Army, Three Oaks Foundation and the United Way. LaFrance has also chaired various local fundraising drives on behalf of Fountain of Hope, an organization of Bank of Montreal employees. The campaign nets about $10,000 annually for charities of the employee's choice. LaFrance, an accomplished Quinte-area curler, maintains that each person can find the time to get involved in community life. "It's a mind set. You have to commit yourself to something and you will make the time." However, he's careful not to over-commit what little free time he has "because then you will over- frustrate yourself. "As a banker, time is sometimes at a premium and you need to use what time is available to full advantage...you can always find the time to be involved in areas that you see value in."

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