Benchmark Bankshares, Inc. is pleased to announce that Benchmark Community Bank has been named to the list of Top 200 Community Banks in the United States for the 16^th consecutive year. Benchmark Bankshares, Inc. is the holding company for Benchmark Community Bank, headquartered in Kenbridge, VA.

“It is truly an honor to be named as one of the top 200 community banks out of almost 5,000 community banks across the nation,” said Benchmark President/CEO Jay Stafford. “That we have received this honor annually since 2007 is a real testament to our employees who remain dedicated to Benchmark’s banking incorporated by our founders who envisioned this bank half a century ago.”

The Top 200 Community Banks list is published annually in the May issue of American Banker magazine, the recognized leader in financial industry publications. Eligibility for the Top 200 list is based on a three-year average of a bank’s return on average equity for 2019-2021. Of the nearly 4,750 publicly traded community banks in the United States with asset size below $2 billion, 438 institutions met the criteria for consideration this year.

Benchmark Community Bank has been named to list annually since 2007. For 2021, Benchmark  was ranked #50 in the United States, #2 among eight Virginia banks, and fourth among eight North Carolina banks named to the list.

Benchmark Community Bank is the sole subsidiary of Benchmark Bankshares, Inc., which trades under the symbol BMBN on the OTC Pink marketplace. Founded in 1971, the bank has 17 branches throughout Southside Virginia and northern North Carolina. To learn more about Benchmark Community Bank, you are invited to visit the bank’s website at www.bcbonline.com. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender.

Couple with stillborn child donates four CuddleCots to rural hospitals.

Haley and Robby Emerson donated a CuddleCot to Joanne Paynter and Sarah Carlton of VCU Health CMH's Garland Birthing Center.

It was devastating. You plan for a baby for nine months, posting progress on social media, celebrating with baby showers, and then all of that is ripped away from you. Every parents’ nightmare had come true for Robby and Haley Emerson of Danville, Virginia. Sydney Amelia Emerson was stillborn on March 3.

Just two months later, the grieving parents donated a CuddleCot to VCU Health Community Memorial Hospital. For the families that choose to use it, the little bassinette cools the deceased baby’s temperature to extend time to spend with their baby as part of the closure process. The Emersons’ GoFundMe page raised enough for four CuddleCots, which they are in the process of donating to smaller area hospitals that otherwise couldn’t afford the equipment.

“It was crazy,” Robby Emerson explained. “People we didn’t know were donating. It’s the good side of social media.”

“It restored our faith in humanity,” Haley Emerson added.

They didn’t have the luxury of a CuddleCot where they delivered and wanted to make sure that didn’t happen to anyone else. The cot has an engraved plaque that memorializes Sydney Amelia Emerson, letting new parents who go through this tragedy know they’re not in this alone.

“You’re taking a deep hurt and making something positive out of it,” said Joanne Paynter, the nursing director at the Garland Birthing Center at VCU Health CMH. “This will make a big difference in the lives of those who need it.”

This is no small gift. Each cot costs around $3,000. The couple plans to reopen the donations on Sydney Amelia Emerson’s birthday each March.

Stillbirths account for 1 in 160 pregnancies and sometimes the cause is unknown. VCU Health has resources to help parents experiencing pregnancy loss.