Local banks will join forces for their annual Build A Bed team-building initiative, an inspiring example of collaboration and teamwork helping to build beds for children in our community and communities throughout Massachusetts. On Friday, September 13, 2024 Newburyport Bank, Pentucket Bank and Institution for Savings will reconvene in the Newburyport Bank, State Street parking lot from 1-3 pm combining efforts to achieve their shared Build A Bed mission, to help give every child a place to dream.
What began in 2022 with Newburyport Bank and Institution for Savings as a friendly bed-building competition with a shared goal to help make a difference in the lives of children, developed into a teamed approach. Pentucket Bank, who merged with Newburyport Bank under the name River Run Bancorp MHC, joined the team in 2023 strengthening this critical community-wide initiative. These three local banks worked together, encouraging volunteers to create mixed teams to include employees from the other banks. In 2023, the Build A Bed teams successfully built 30 beds in support the goal, to provide A Bed for Every Child.
While this event takes place in September, throughout the entire month of August 2024, there will be a bedding and stuffed animal drive, where members of the community are encouraged to drop off NEW stuffed animals and twin-sized bedding at any Newburyport Bank or Pentucket Bank location to accompany the beds being donated.
There are many children in Massachusetts who don’t have the luxury of having their own bed. They are sharing with siblings or parents and in some cases, children are sleeping on couches, air mattresses, floors and beds that they have outgrown or are
broken. With sleep being an essential element to physical and mental health, the Build A Bed mission has been recognized by many as a critical necessity.
The afternoon will kick off with lunch served by Michael’s Harborside to the volunteers, giving bank employees a chance to say “hi” to friends and meet new ones as a warm-up for this amazing team-building activity.
The 2024 Build A Bed will come on the heels of a rewarding drive in 2023, where instead of cars, the Newburyport Bank parking lot was filled with employees, materials, and tools that volunteers used to build beds. It was inspiring to see the mixed teams — blue shirts representing Newburyport Bank/Pentucket Bank and the green shirts representing Institution for Savings — and it was inspiring to watch businesses that could be categorized as friendly competitors unite for the greater good, putting competition aside and instead prioritizing the Build A Bed mission to help ensure that every child has a place to dream.
In 2024, we are looking forward to another beneficial day of building beds for the children of this community.
