Employees at Champlain National Bank are spearheading projects throughout Essex and Clinton counties to help make the holidays a little brighter for local families. The Project We Care program at Champlain National Bank partners with local agencies throughout the region to help them collect toys, food, and other items, which are provided to people in need in our communities during the holidays.

In Lake Placid and Saranac Lake, they are collecting toys, which will be given to Families First to distribute. Tags listing a local child’s Christmas gift wish will be located in those two branches. Please return the unwrapped gift to either Lake Placid or Saranac Lake by Dec. 13. For more details about the program, call 518-523-7070.

The Elizabethtown branch is collecting toys for ACAP’s Holidays Are For Sharing program, which provides parents with new toys to give to their children on Christmas Day.

New, unwrapped toys can be dropped off to our Elizabethtown branch and the staff there will make sure it gets to a child who might not receive a gift otherwise.

The phone number in Elizabethtown is 518-873-6347 if you need more information.

In Keene, they are collecting food for the Keene Food Pantry, which sees an increased need during the holiday season. People can drop off non-perishable food items during the month of December and the bank will make sure they are delivered to the Keene Food Pantry in time for the holidays.

They are also participating in the community collaboration between St. Brendan’s Church, the Keene Valley Congregational Church, and the Neighborhood House to collect gifts for local children. To help, stop by the branch and take an angel or mitten tag listing a gift for a child in Keene. Return the item either wrapped or unwrapped with the tag attached. You can call 518-576-9515 for more information.

“Our communities are extremely generous during the holidays, providing to those who are less fortunate,” Director of Marketing Jackie Hallock said. “As the local bank, we look for opportunities where we can make a difference right here. It’s important to us that we can keep everything donated here, where the need is great.”