On Tuesday, May 8, M&T Bank employees will be participating in Day of Service, which sees volunteers from companies throughout the country coming together the better their cities in a variety of ways. The M&T Day of Service (National Volunteer Week) was originally scheduled to be held today, which is M&T Bank’s late Chairman and CEO, Robert G. Wilmers’ birthday. Due to the late blooming spring, Day of Service was bumped up couple of weeks.
When the Day of Service event does get underway, 84 M&T employees will set out to make an impact on the East Side, in the Buffalo Promise Neighborhood (BPN). That is the same neighborhood where Westminster Community Charter School resides – a school that Wilmers took under his wing, back in 1993. 20 years later, Wilmers and his team brought the national Promise Neighborhood model to Buffalo, which furthered the academic achievement and healthy development effort by including two additional East Side schools. The effort will incorporate a fourth school this September – BPN Children’s Academy (preschool) at Gerard Place.
On May 8, the M&T Bank volunteers will be concentrating their volunteer efforts within the same neighborhood footprint. The crew of 84 employees will be involved in cleaning, landscaping, light construction, moving furniture, and organizing at sites throughout BPN and along Bailey Avenue. The sites include several community pocket parks and garden boxes, including the Baily-Dartmouth Garden and the Westminster Community Charter School teaching garden.
Symbolizing the effort, and recognizing Wilmers’ commitment to the community, the lights atop M&T’s headquarters, One M&T Plaza, will be lit green on the Day of Service.