Elgin Financial Savings Bank's Internet Book Store Helps Local Schools Raise Money.

ELGIN, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 5, 1999--

Local school fundraising has gone hi-tech, thanks to Elgin Financial Savings Bank. The bank is the first financial institution in the Chicago area to open an on-line WebShares BookStore, where proceeds from purchases made at Amazon.com are shared with a local school.

Amazon.com is the web's largest retailer.

Everything Amazon.com sells - including best-selling books, kids books, CDs, videos, toys and games, and electronics - qualifies for the fundraising.

The process begins at Elgin Financial Savings Bank's web site, www.elginfsb.com. Every time a participating school's parents, teachers, boosters or students start at www.elginfsb.com to make a purchase at Amazon.com, the school will receive a share of the transaction.

Seven schools already have become part of the EFSB WebShares BookStore: Lowrie Elementary School, Elgin; St. Edward Central Catholic High School in Elgin; Fox Valley Lutheran Academy, Elgin; the two Summit schools, in East Dundee and Elgin; St. Patrick Catholic School in St. Charles, and Judson College, Elgin.

The program is open to all Elgin, Dundee and Huntley-area schools.

Elgin Financial Savings Bank is a $440 million institution with offices in Elgin and West Dundee. EFSB also operates a branch in Huntley, EFS Bank Huntley.

"We've developed this unique fundraising program to give our kids and their schools a boost," EFSB President Barrett J. O'Connor said.

"We take our commitment to the Elgin, Dundee and Huntley communities very seriously. Children and their education are important to all our futures. We want to help hometown schools raise the `extra' money they need to provide the resources our children should have."

O'Connor said the money can be used for whatever the sponsoring organization wants - computers, library books, band instruments, and playground or sports equipment, for example.

         Here's how the EFSB WebShares BookStore works:

-    The school must be on the participating schools list on the EFSB
     web site. Schools that want to participate should contact Joe
     Stanczak, a bank senior vice president who is in charge of
     growing Elgin Financial Savings Bank's Internet banking services.
     Stanczak can be reached at 847-741-3900, ext. 269.

-    Begin at the Elgin Financial Savings Bank web site,
     www.elginfsb.com, and click on the WebShares BookStore logo.

-    Choose your school's name from the drop down list, then select
     "Go to Bookstore."

-    Verify that the school named on the screen is correct.

-    Next, select the category you want - best selling books, for
     example.

-    Make your purchases. The Amazon.com site is a secure site for
     credit card purchases, and there also are alternative ways to
     pay.

-    The school will receive a portion of each sale. Elgin Financial
     Savings Bank will aggregate and distribute payments to
     participating schools each quarter.