KENNEBUNK, ME – Kennebunk Savings is investing in the future by funding early childhood development programs. The bank has committed to $150,000 in donations from its 2021 Spotlight Fund to bolster programs focusing on supporting children during the most pivotal times in their development.
“We want to ensure that young children have stable home lives and healthy families,” said Bradford C. Paige, President and CEO. “We want them to have every opportunity to develop the self-regulation, problem solving, and social-emotional skills necessary to thrive. And we want to contribute to the stability of an engaged workforce of dedicated teachers and care-givers, providing the tools they all need to move forward.”
The Spotlight Fund, part of the Bank’s overarching Community Promise giving program, is designed to proactively identify societal issues affecting the members of its communities and make a concentrated commitment to direct resources to address those issues. The Spotlight Fund proactively seeks out nonprofits in the applicable fields and helps them expand on their great work. This year, the focus is on early childhood development.
“When the brain is forming, the foundation for future health behaviors is being laid,” said Liz Torrance, Community Relations and Social Responsibility Manager. “We want to ensure children have all the resources they need for a healthy development.” The bank’s plans include sharing what they’re learning on social media as they learn it, fostering public awareness and community discussion.
The havoc wrought by COVID-19 has particularly impacted the world of education. “There are many young families in our communities, and there’s so much uncertainty right now,” Paige added. “We’ve long been champions of our local schools and other programs for kids, but we feel this is a critical time to be diving deeper into early childhood development. We’ve been celebrating the bank’s 150th anniversary this year, with the theme of ‘Celebrating our past, driving our future.’ We don’t just mean the future of a community bank; we’re talking about the future of our communities.”
