Business & Tech

Bank of America Gives Back During the Holidays

Employees company-wide have given back to the St. Louis community by donating their time to organizations for the last 20 years.

Bank of America doesn’t just hire great employees—but dedicated volunteers.

For 20 years, employees company-wide have given back to the St. Louis community by donating their time to organizations like Variety, Habitat for Humanity, St. Patrick Center, St. Louis Area Food Bank and many others.

“We really promote giving back to the community and we focus on strategic volunteerism,” Bank of America spokeswoman Michelle Tucker said. “Because Bank of America has the infrastructure to support giving back, employees make decisions of what’s most meaningful.”

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

To help support these efforts, the bank offers employees up to two hours per week paid time off to volunteer.

This holiday season employees coordinated several large programs that are near-and-dear to their hearts to benefit St. Louis communities, including:

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Dress A Doll: For this 63-year tradition, employees dress hundreds of dolls to deliver to children at local nonprofits and hospitals. In 2012, 200 dolls were dressed for delivery this month.

 “Employees keep this at the forefront because there is such a need across the community to provide gifts and toys for kids who don’t have that opportunity,” Tucker said. “Volunteers adopt a doll and each of them dresses them with an individual personality and character.”

Hearts for the Holiday: For nearly 10 years, employees have created holiday cards for military troops, as well as patients at local hospitals and senior centers.

This year, the goal was 6,000 but volunteers managed to exceed their goal by producing 7,600 cards. 

“Employees sit in one of conference rooms and put together these hand-made cards, using raw materials,” Tucker said. “Its something that’s very close to hearts of the employees, because some of these people are forgotten or don’t have relatives in the area.”

Toy & Mitten Drive: Employees donate toys and cold weather gear to 8 area nonprofits. In 2011, more than 1,000 items were donated.

Edgewood Children’s Center Gift Wrapping: An annual event where employees wrap presents for the Center’s children.

Variety St. Louis Bikes for Kids: On Dec. 15 employees built bikes for children at this annual event. 

These holiday volunteer initiatives are just a few of Bank of America’s overall efforts in St. Louis.

St. Louis employees set a goal of 10,000 volunteer hours in 2012 and Tucker said they will exceed this by the end of the year.

In the first six months of 2012, bank employees contributed more than $254,075 in Missouri to local charitable organizations of their choice and these funds were matched by the Bank of America Charitable Foundation.

Now Bank of America volunteers are in wrap-up mode for the holidays. They are finishing delivering dolls, toys and cards to the people who need them most this Christmas season.

Bank of America Locations in O'Fallon:

  • 311 S Main St.
  • 110 Fallon Loop Rd.
  • 2430 Highway K

 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from O'Fallon