Volunteer Effort

"Every Sunday after a home football game, the golf team had to clean out the football stadium--every dip cup, every bit of popcorn, and various and sundry other things I ought not mention," Lacy said. "We would get paid $1,000 for every game. There were five home games, and that $5,000 was pretty much the golf team’s budget."

By the time he was a senior, Lacy thought he had a better idea. "I knocked on [then Baylor president] McCall's door, because he had an incredibly open-door policy," Lacy said. "And I told him I'd like to figure out a way to have a fundraising golf tournament so we didn't have to do that." McCall agreed, so Lacy recruited sponsors for the tournament, put together an event that raised more than the $5,000, and saved himself and his teammates the ignominy of trash duty.

And that's a pretty good example of the volunteer spirit of David Lacy, who is president of Waco's Community Bank & Trust. He’s not one bit afraid of hard work, but he's smart enough to figure out better ways to get more accomplished.

For the next year, the Baylor Alumni Association (BAA) will be a major beneficiary of the talents of Lacy as he serves as the 2009 president of the board. A longtime board member and the treasurer for four years, Lacy has been a tireless servant of the organization.

"If you ask me, he's an ideal board member," said Chad Wooten '03, the association's business manager. Wooten joined the association in 2005 and said he was a little intimidated about the prospect of working with the well-known banker. But all apprehension faded quickly as Wooten got to know one of the city's most active volunteers. "He doesn't talk a lot or throw a bunch of ideas around and expect somebody else to do something. He just works," Wooten said. "His commitment is selfless. He studies the financials, he reads the reports, he knows the business of the association, and he keeps us focused on doing that business well."

Wooten added, "He shows genuine concern for the welfare of the organization and wants this place to do well--because he cares about this organization, not because he cares about David Lacy."

The BAA is not the only organization that has figured out the value of having Lacy as a volunteer. In fact, it was only six months after his graduation from Baylor that the first nonprofit came calling. "I had to ask permission, because I was literally a working stiff," Lacy said. "I was punching a clock, and I had to ask my boss if it was okay if I took more than fifty minutes for lunch on the board meeting day."

Since then, Lacy has devoted a huge amount of his time to local nonprofit organizations, including the United Way, the Baylor "B" Association, the Fast Break Club, the Baylor Bear Foundation, Waco Chamber of Commerce, Waco Industrial Foundation, Waco Foundation, Leadership Waco, and many others. In 2003, his volunteer efforts earned him the title of Humanitarian of the Year, an honor bestowed by the Greater Waco Interfaith Conference.

In addition to serving as president of the BAA, Lacy is also chair of the board of Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth, the first person not from Fort Worth to have that role. Lacy and his wife, Nancy Derrick Lacy '89, became involved with Cook more than eleven years ago, when they had a daughter who died in infancy. "During the short time that she lived, she lived in Cook Hospital," Lacy said. "We were there 24/7 for that month, and we got to meet some really neat people during that stretch, so my involvement on this board is simply to re-pay them for all they did for my wife and me." Lacy joined the hospital board, when asked, in 1999.

The son of a prominent local banker, Lacy went to work at Citizens National Bank, where his father was president, on the Monday after his graduation from Baylor. He began working in the night computer department, and then rotated to jobs as a teller, proof operator, and credit officer, and duties in the marketing, collections, and new accounts departments. "Banking is a big jigsaw puzzle, and you have to know how all the different departments fit together," Lacy said. In 1990, he moved to Community Bank & Trust as a loan officer, and in 1999 he was selected as president.

Lacy said that he comes from a family of Aggies--his father and grandfather graduated from A&M, "but I grew up going to Baylor sporting events." Once Lacy made Baylor his school, his devotion has been steadfast. His wife comes from a family of Baylor graduates, and their daughter, Carter, a senior in high school, has Baylor on her short list, he said.

Lacy said that his primary goal as the association's president is to leave the organization "stronger and more unified" than he found it. "And I should add that I am inheriting a very good organization. Financially, we have to continue making improvements, but I’m very proud of the improvements we have made," he said. "I think we have to continue to look for areas where the school and the alumni association can work hand in hand and move forward with common goals."

After so many years as the association's treasurer, Lacy doesn't intend to relax his focus on finances. "Financial independence is something we sought for a long time, and now we’ve got it," he said. "So it is incumbent on us to make the most of it and to handle it appropriately and professionally and give our members the confidence that our finances are in good order and that our financial position is sustainable forever. If there's one thing I’m going to work on, it’s that."

While he plans to focus on membership and fundraising, association members can be assured of one thing, he said--"I am not going to volunteer anyone to clean up the stadium again."