Contributed | rrspin.com

Branch Banking & Trust has partnered with Roanoke Rapids Graded Schools  to help children have weekend nourishment. Each Friday afternoon, needy students are given a bag of goodies to carry home so that they are ensured of having some nutritious food to eat before returning to school on Monday. The bags include nonperishable food items such as applesauce, oatmeal, macaroni and cheese packets, canned soups and more.

They are given to the students in a discreet manner to avoid unwanted attention. BB&T has donated money, food items, and manpower to pack the bags and have them ready for the Friday giveaway.

They have sponsored more than 51 children at Belmont and Chaloner, sending a bag of food home with each of these children every Friday afternoon.

The BB&T branch in Roanoke Rapids participates in this project as part of the broader corporate promotion called the Lighthouse Project. "The concept is simple,” said Kelly King, CEO of BB&T. “We want every one of our employees physically working in their communities to make a tangible difference in people’s lives. BB&T has built our success as a community-based bank, and we know this is a tough and challenging period for our communities and our country right now. We can’t think of a better reason or time for us to focus our energy on helping others."

Last year, BB&T had more than 1,000 different projects and donated more than 52,000 volunteer hours to local charities touching more than one and half million lives across 25 states.

Steve Medlin, Northeastern regional president of BB&T was on hand to help bag the lunches.

He explained that the local employees decide what projects they want to promote in their area.

Jeff Faison, BB&T commercial loan officer added, “I am so glad that BB&T allows us to work within our community and support it in this way. We believe that the community supports us, therefore, we want to give back to our area.”

Manning Elementary School also has a similar project called Bag Buddies. For several years, they have been sending home bags with snacks for the weekend. At this time, they do not have a sponsor but maintain the program through donations from several teachers and various church groups. Bag Buddies serves about 26 children each week.

If you also are willing to donate to these projects, please contact Jamie Lassiter at Manning Elementary School, Dean Oliver at Belmont Elementary, and Jennifer Clapton at Chaloner Middle School.