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Champlain National Bank Makes Major Gift to The Tristan Fund

06 Nov 2023

Champlain National Bank Makes Major Gift to The Tristan Fund


Champlain National Bank has donated $10,000 to The Tristan Fund at Mountain Lake PBS, in honor of long-time employee Jackie Hallock’s infant son, Tristan, who passed away at three-days old.  The Tristan Fund raises money to purchase books to be given away, for free, to children throughout the region through Mountain Lake PBS’s Giving Library.  Additionally, books purchased by the Fund are given to parents with children in pediatric palliative care and in the NICU at UVM Medical Center, so that they can read to their children, just like Jackie and her husband Thom did during their time with Tristan. 
 

“Even though Tristan was only with us a short time, he left a tremendous impact on the entire Champlain National Bank Family,” President and CEO of Champlain National Bank Steven Cacchio said.  “The Giving Library is a wonderful way to honor his memory.” “Education is at the heart of our mission at Mountain Lake PBS, and early childhood literacy is central to that mission,” said Mountain Lake PBS President and CEO Bill McColgan.  “The Hallock Giving Library and the Tristan Fund will have a lasting impact in our community with free books for local families.  This very generous gift from Champlain National Bank will help sustain this effort and expand the impact throughout the North Country, and we are so grateful to them.”
 

Mountain Lake PBS announced the expansion of the Giving Library, which received an outpouring of support following the creation of The Tristan Fund.  The Fund was created by Mountain Lake PBS along with Tristan’s parents, Thom and Jackie Hallock, after their son passed away as an infant in February.  Books purchased by the Fund have already started to be given out at community events, including at the 2023 Mayor’s Cup and several children’s events at Mountain Lake PBS. Additionally, several boxes of specialty books were donated to the NICU and pediatric palliative care at UVM Medical Center, based on the suggestions of the doctors and nurses serving those patients.  Books were also donated to Plattsburgh-based Healing Grace in support of their infant loss efforts.

Champlain National Bank was founded in 1909 in Essex County and is still locally owned and managed today with ten branches serving the people of the North Country and Adirondacks.  In addition to traditional banking products, it has a full offering of mobile banking solutions, commercial loans, and mortgages.