Gate City Bank awards Heart N’ Soul with $25,000 for Giving Hearts Day

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — Over 60,000 entries were submitted to be this year’s recipient of Gate City Bank’s Giving Hearts Day $25,000 donation. And this year, Heart N Soul Community Cafe is the winner.

“Just kind of speechless, overwhelmed, but it’s just, it’s really going to help us serve our mission and serve people in need of a meal. A hearty and healthy meal. So very, very honored,” said Leola Daul, Founder and Executive Director of Heart N Soul Community Cafe.

Heart N Soul Community Cafe provides fresh, locally-grown food to people in the Fargo-Moorhead community. With a mission dedicated to addressing food insecurities, the cafe provides a way to pay for meals in a “pay what you can” model. And with this donation, an estimated 2,000 meals will be given back to the community.

“Everybody should have the opportunity to have a healthy and hearty meal. And I’ve been very blessed in my life, and I just want to share that with everybody. I’m fortunate to be in a position where I can do that,” said Daul.

Leading up to the big reveal, Gate City Bank employees have been working throughout the week to give back to their community with donations and by hosting a food drive.

“We at Gate City Bank are so passionate about giving back to the community. We’re a local community bank, so it just makes sense for us to help all the charities within our communities,” said Amanda Torok, Senior Vice President of Culture at Gate City Bank.

“We can’t have Heart N’ Soul without our community. So knowing that we have the support of the community, that they care about our community, and they want people to have a good meal, it just really means the world to us,” said Daul.

Since 2014, Gate City Bank has donated more than $2.4 million and supported over 300 charities through Giving Hearts Day.