LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Lester Banks was nominated by multiple colleagues and friends. The following profile contains text from each of his nominations.

There are so many words that can be used to describe Mr. Banks - caring, sincere, giving, compassionate, to name a few. None of them seem to do him justice. Mr. Banks works at Bryan High School as a campus monitor and community service supervisor. That title doesn’t do justice to the impact he has on kids at his alma mater and the community as a whole. 

Mr. Banks spends a minimum of 16 hours a day giving back to his community. He’s one of the first people you see when you get to BHS, and the last person you see at night after any school activity. He attends practically every event held at the school, not because he has to, but because he wants to be there to support the kids. Mr. Banks can be seen selling football tickets during the football season, helping with security at sporting events, and helping oversee the concession stand at basketball games, as well as supervising students completing Saturday community service.

Mr. Banks can be seen using his own money to purchase tickets, supplies, food, clothes or shoes for kids in need. Often times, he spend enormous amounts of his time talking to kids in trouble, trying to get them to understand the real reasons why they have received a referral or have been sent to the office. He seems to be able to relate to the students on a deeper level. Any time there is a fundraiser going on at school; kids know they can count on Mr. Banks to support them.

"I teach students with special needs, and Lester is always coming by the classroom to visit with the students and knows them all by name," said an anonymous colleague. "He has provided snacks, field trips and parties for my kids, simply because he truly wants to. He is not required to do anything for them. Lester comes by just about every day to say 'hello.'"

Mr. Banks also volunteers at the Boys and Girls Club in Bryan. He gives so much of his time and effort to show students the importance of giving back to others, and to let them know that people genuinely care about one another. He demonstrates this on a daily basis by picking kids up to bring them to the club or taking them home. Mr. Banks tries to keep kids busy so they do not have time to get caught up in many of the negative things that pull children in the wrong direction. He has stated many times that he was given a scholarship to continue his education after high school, and he works to be able to provide the same thing to other students.  He feels that if kids are given an opportunity or shown how to improve their future, many will make the effort. All they need is to know that people care about them, and that's what he tries to show them on a daily basis. In honor of his father, he established the Lester Ben Banks Sr, scholarship fund, which has provided thousands of dollars to students to help them continue their education. It’s one of his ways of paying it forward.

In 2006, Lester received the Jefferson Award for his public service to his community. He was so humbled by this that he felt he needed to do more to live up to the principles of this award. He has also won the Trumann Award from the City of Brian in the past.

"I don’t think that there is any more that he can do above the tireless effort that he already gives. If there is any event going on around town, you can always expect to see Lester offering his service to do what he can to help out, especially when it comes to the kids," said Patricia Bailey-Jones, a colleague.

"This young man is just the jack of all trades," said an anonymous friend. "You can ask any body in the Brazos Valley about Lester Banks and you will get a true story about this young man that will bring tears to your eyes. You can even call the Eagle, and they will tell you a lot about what kind of person this man is."

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