Area residents looking to get a home improvement project done have a unique opportunity to get some assistance, thanks to a local bank.

First South Bank recently launched the marketing initiative Fresh Start Photo Contest — the winning photo will have $1,000 donated to a specific project.

“The thought process here is it’s mortgage season, and we wanted to do some type of campaign that engages people out on social media, but at the same time, we wanted to tie it back to, while people are looking for homes, they’re also trying to update things in their homes,” said Nikki Klapp, director of marketing at First South.

Klapp said people can participate by taking a photo of something they would like to change in their home and submitting it via email or through the bank’s Facebook page. Participants do not have to be First South customers, according to Cara Singleton, a marketing assistant at the bank.

“It’s kind of like a play on a HGTV idea of redoing something in your home,” Singleton said. “Anything in their home they’ve been kind of thinking about redoing or updating — an ugly couch, terrible wallpaper, their bathroom looking like something from the 1970s.”

“We felt like if it’s something ugly they don’t like, it’s going to get more engagement and more people talking about it and participating because everyone has something in their home they don’t like and want to change,” Klapp added.”

So far, the bank has received around 30 submissions as of Monday, according to Klapp. The deadline to submit entries is today, and a committee at the bank will review the submissions and narrow the submissions down to five finalists.

The bank will share the finalists on its Facebook page photo gallery, inviting the public to vote for their favorite image during the week of July 20-27. The photo receiving the most votes will be awarded $1,000 toward the home improvement project. The bank also asks that the winner share an “after” photo of the completed project to share with the community, according to Klapp. The winner will be announced July 28.

Singleton said one woman entered a photo of the outside of her home, with a desire to change her front steps and replace it with a porch.

Klapp said while the bank is doing this special promotion and want the public to engage with the bank online, it is not mandatory.

“They can actually send their submission directly to us at the bank (via email),” Klapp said. “We really try to be involved in the community and build relationships with our customer and other community members. That’s the purpose of our online campaigning — building that relationship and engaging (the community).”

To submit a photo for the Fresh Start Photo Contest, email First South Bank at marketing@firstsouthnc.com or post a photo on the bank’s Facebook page at facebook.com/FirstSouthBankNC.