August 2025 | Page 163

BankRI Book Drive
Washington Trust Peanut Butter Drive
Providence Country Day School Celebrates Arbor Day
Poppy’ s Rhode Island School Project

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BankRI Book Drive
Rhode Island Monthly’ s Partner-Related Events and Promotions
Washington Trust Peanut Butter Drive
Photo courtesy of BankRI.
Left to right: Julia Spadola, assistant branch manager, Wakefield; Jessica Ferguson, teller; Zachary Hall, senior teller; and Benjamin Fyke, teller.
BankRI’ s 2025 Children’ s Book Drive was its biggest yet, with 14,279 books going to Books Are Wings, a nonprofit organization that donates free books to children in Rhode Island. The bank’ s Wakefield branch led the way, collecting 4,295 books.
Providence Country Day School Celebrates Arbor Day
From left, Elisabeth Panciere, Kate Sullivan, Tonya Reed, Jonathan Dougherty and Branch Manager Ann Cook.
Washington Trust collected 4,710 jars of peanut butter and $ 6,100 during its twenty-fifth annual peanut butter drive earlier this month, a 68 % increase in donations over last year.
Photo courtesy of Washington Trust.
Photo courtesy of Laura Barlow.
From left: United States Senator Jack Reed; East Providence Mayor Bob DaSilva; Governor Dan McKee; R. I. Department of Environmental Management Director Terrance Gray; student Jameel; Laura Barlow; and Lou Allard, urban and community forestry program coordinator at RIDEM.
Laura Barlow, former Elite Miss Rhode Island, took part in Arbor Day festivities with one of her students, Jameel, at the Providence Country Day school in East Providence. The event featured a tree-planting ceremony, lunch, speakers and a Tree City / USA Awards presentation.
Photograph courtesy of Poppy’ s family.
Poppy’ s Rhode Island School Project
Thanks to generous Rhode Island Monthly readers, Poppy— a third grader from Virginia— told classmates all about the Ocean State during a school presentation at The Langley School in McLean, Virginia. After seeing her letter asking for information in the magazine’ s April issue, residents eagerly sent Poppy facts, tchotchkes and information about our little state. Fun fact: Poppy’ s parents are Rhode Island natives who met as students at Mount St. Charles Academy and Poppy visits her grandparents— who still live in Little Rhody— often.
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