Bank staff wears blue, raises green for charity

Years ago, singer Neal Diamond had a big radio hit titled "Forever in blue jeans."

That could pretty much be the theme song for employees at Citizens Bank & Trust in Maryville, who pay $2 every Friday for the privilege of wearing jeans to work, with all the money going to various local charities.

The group was dressed in its denim finest last week when it presented an oversized $250 check to Brittney Browning of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Nodaway County.

Browning, a Northwest Missouri State University student who works for the youth agency part-time, said the money will be added to $5,000 raised this year in support of a new program: Adopt a Family for the Holidays.

About 20 lower-income families, many of them headed by single parents, will benefit from the initiative, which will provide children and adults alike with warm winter coats, household items and a few special toys for kids to find under the tree on Christmas morning.

The program grew out of a project Browning designed for a family resource management class at Northwest and was soon adopted by BBBS, where she first started working as an intern.

Big Brothers Big Sisters is best known for matching adult mentors with children and teenagers from single-parent homes. Currently the organization oversees about 40 Big/Little matches and has a waiting list.

Male mentors, Browning said, are in especially short supply.

The CBT team has been raising money with blue-jean Friday for about five years, said bank employee Laura Kimble. In addition to Big Brothers Big Sisters, the group has raised money and provided in-kind donations to the Maryville Ministry Center food pantry, Toys for Tots, the Nodaway County Senior Citizens Center, Relay for Life and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation.