Customer care specialist Sharon Phillips receives her gift box from customer care supervisor Sara Carter.

Last week, the HR department put together 475 gift boxes and had them delivered to every single North Shore Bank employee. Because we had to cancel our employee outings this year, this small token of appreciation was given out instead.

The reaction to the gift boxes has been overwhelmingly positive, and it’s been fun to receive your messages of thanks. In particular, the Customer Support area added some dramatic flair when the boxes were given out. Customer care rep Debra Jones wanted to be sure she was surprised, and fortunately, the big moment was documented:

Debra closed her eyes before receiving her box, to achieve maximum surprise.

Thanks for the fun, Debra! 😁

The seven items in each gift box were purchased from North Shore Bank business customers, and these businesses were very appreciative of our support. The delicious cookies were from Matilda Bakehouse, while Main Street Pig of Sussex provided the sausage and crackers we hope you enjoyed while watching the Brewers or the Packers win on Sunday! Popcorn came from Treat Street; chocolate-covered Door County cherries were from Koepsel’s Farm Market in Baileys Harbor; mixed nuts were from Your Favorite Concessions; and Hollander Chocolate in Fox Point provided the bottled chocolate syrup (which I can’t wait to mix up as hot chocolate soon!). Magellan Promotions of West Allis produced the North Shore Bank pens. (Non-customer Goody Gourmets in Glendale helped us complete the popcorn order and merits a special shout-out for the last-minute assist! Maybe we can earn their business going forward?)

Customer assistance rep Jailine Barbosa, senior ACH specialist Lindsey Schneider, and senior customer assistance rep Ashley Peck were delighted to get their gift boxes.

Pulling this off truly took a collective effort. In addition to the HR team — especially retiring HR rep Cheryl Fregoso and talent acquisition manager Janet Rosenthal — special thanks go to building engineer Jeff Dolezal, lending sales specialist Jody Moore, SVP commercial banking manager Margaret Capper, and the many branch and district managers who drove through our “special curbside delivery” station at Corporate. We hope you enjoy the treats! —Molly Schissler, SVP, HR/Compliance