Rick Bannister founded neighborhood bridges and launched the 501(c)(3) organization on Martin Luther King Day, January 16, 2017. Since its inception neighborhood bridges has grown to serve 66 communities in Ohio, Indiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee and the charity has directly impacted more than 615,000 students and families.
Rick Bannister is a 52 year resident of Westerville. He and his wife Diane began dating while seniors at Westerville South High School and continued dating through their years at Ohio State. They have 4 daughters and two sons-in law: Haley & Brad Hoffman, Amie & Chase Marburger, Lindsay, and their gift, Riley is a senior Musical Theatre Performance Major at Western Michigan University. Rick and Diane enjoy 5 grandchildren; Theodore, Opal, Charlie, Arthur, and Arlo.
Rick served across two terms on the Westerville Schools Board of Education, chaired 7 school levy campaigns and has coordinated a total of 15 campaigns and served on numerous boards in Westerville since 1993. During Rick’s school board service, the board of education thrived in many ways, including
· Serving as construction manager for Genoa Middle School. This new building was brought online in record time to meet exploding enrollment in Westerville, and the project was completed $3.5 million under budget. In a historic and unprecedented event, the Westerville Board of Education voted to return the savings to taxpayers.
· Successfully negotiated a “make whole” agreement between the schools and city of Westerville which forever protected and made whole the schools from tax abatements awarded by the city to businesses.
· Created the school resource officer program in 1998 as a pilot program, which was quickly turned into a permanent and district wide collaboration between the school district and the City of Westerville Police Department.
· As Vice President of the Board, Rick traveled with city, school and chamber of commerce leaders to New York City in 2000 to present to Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s The joint presentation on the fiscal health of the school district and city resulted in improved bond ratings for the school district from A- to A and resulting in several million dollars in interest rate savings for our schools.
· Put together the largest new construction and existing facility renovation bond package in the history of our school district that was approved by voters and resulted in the construction of Westerville Central High School, Alcott and Fouse Elementaries, a major addition to Genoa Middle School, renovations and ADA compliance work in every building in the district.
· Implemented the International Baccalaureate Diploma program and curriculum, which remains available to any Westerville High School student.
For 20 years, Rick served as the volunteer Public Address Announcer for Westerville South football, boys and girls basketball, and girls soccer when his daughters played. He is also in his 17th year as the PA Announcer for Ohio State University’s women’s softball team and also announces for Ohio State Women's, Men's Soccer, Women's Ice Hockey, and Baseball. Rick has announced more than 1,500 athletic and special events in Westerville, District, Regional, and State Championships for the Ohio High School Athletic Association, for Otterbein University, and for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
In 2012 Rick was inducted into the Westerville South Alumni Hall of Fame and the Westerville Board of Education created a Community Service Award in his name.
In 2016 Rick was honored as the Westerville Sunrise Rotary Community Service Award Winner.
In 2018 Rick was inducted into the Westerville South Athletic Hall of Fame and became the only person from Westerville or Westerville South High School to be inducted into the Student, Alumni, and Athletic Halls of Fame.
In 2019 Rick was named a Friend of Education by the Ohio School Boards Association.
In September of 2019 Rick was recognized by the Columbus Dispatch as one of Central Ohio’s 2019 Everyday Heroes.
In February of 2020, Rick was notified by the City of Westerville that he was named the 12th Champion of Westerville. The city of Westerville, in coordination with the Westerville City School District has placed a Champions Plaque for Rick at the entrance to Wildcat Stadium.
In April of 2024, Rick received the Monroe Courtright Volunteer Service Award from the Rotary Club of Westerville.
