Marathon, Wis. (December 14, 2021) Peoples State Bank served as the collection site for community volunteers who purchased Christmas gifts for children in need in the Marathon School District. The Marathon Circle of Joy collected 32 names from the school district. They created 90 gift packages from the collected names, splitting the children’s wishes into smaller lists for the community to purchase. The Circle of Joy volunteers put the wishes on paper stockings, which were hung on a Christmas tree in the Peoples State Bank lobby.
“We were overwhelmed with families who came into the bank to take a wish list stocking off the tree,” said Kaci Sessions, Peoples State Bank – Marathon branch manager. “It was heartwarming to see children taking the lists so they could buy gifts for those children in need.”
All 90 of the wish list paper stockings were taken from the tree by community members. After purchasing the gifts, the community members delivered them back to the bank, which collected them prior to distribution. The bank lobby was filled with so many gifts, bank employees had to transport some to Marathon village hall to make room for more.
“A big thank you to the Marathon Circle of Joy volunteers and of course, to the Marathon community for supporting this project,” said Sessions. “Imagine the surprise on Christmas morning for those 32 children who will receive these gifts!”
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Peoples State Bank is a community bank headquartered in Wausau, Wisconsin, serving north, central, and southeast Wisconsin from ten full-service banking locations in Marathon, Oneida, Vilas, Waukesha, and Milwaukee Counties, as well as a commercial loan production office in Stevens Point, WI.