Every September, more than 150 BMI employees step away from their desks and into Nashville classrooms, hallways, gardens, and school grounds for a day of service that has become a meaningful tradition for the company, PENCIL, and Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS). 

Across 16 MNPS schools and at the PENCIL Box, where educators shop for free school and classroom supplies, BMI volunteers spend the day engaging in work that helps schools with projects that would otherwise remain incomplete.  

Volunteers organize classrooms and storage spaces. They clean up and refresh the school grounds. They garden. They tackle projects that have been waiting for an extra set of hands. At the PENCIL Box, volunteers help organize and prepare donated supplies so MNPS educators can find what they need to equip their students.  

The projects may look different from school to school, but the investment is the same: BMI is investing its time, talent, and resources directly into Nashville’s public schools, and PENCIL is proud to be the connector that makes it possible. 

For a day of service of this scale to come together year after year, it takes someone behind the scenes helping connect the vision to the people who make it possible. Anupam Bhakta, a PENCIL Board Member and BMI employee, plays an important role in bringing BMI’s commitment to Nashville’s public schools to life. His leadership helps turn a company-wide spirit of generosity into meaningful, hands-on support for MNPS students and educators. 

“I’m proud to help bring BMI employees and Nashville’s public schools together for a day that makes a tangible difference. Our goal from the start has been to help teachers and administrators tackle projects that they feel were being neglected at their schools. This year, BMI volunteers took on landscaping tasks, built and refurbished garden beds, cleared out/organized storage closets, painted entire rooms, packed hygiene kits, built a gaga pit, and supported PENCIL Box operations among many other requests we received from schools. Through our partnership with PENCIL, we turned our team’s willingness to help into meaningful support for educators and students. It’s a reminder that when we invest our time and energy in our community, we all benefit,” said Bhakta.

PENCIL’s Chief Partnerships Officer, Alayna Catacombs, said, “BMI’s Volunteer Day is such a powerful reminder of what’s possible when our business community connects with our public schools. Educators and students feel cared for by simple acts of service that make a big difference in their everyday lives.”  

For MNPS educators, the impact of the community’s investment can be immediate. A newly organized classroom means less time spent searching for materials. A refreshed garden creates a more inviting outdoor space for students. Clean, cared-for grounds help students and families feel a greater sense of belonging. And at the PENCIL Box, every organized shelf and stocked space means one more educator can walk through the doors and find the supplies they need to make their classroom work. 

BMI’s Volunteer Day carries an important message to educators and students of MNPS, communicating: We see you. We value your work. And our community is willing to show up for you. 

That is what makes BMI’s annual day of service so special to PENCIL. It is not simply a volunteer day. It is a visible expression of community investment and a reminder that our schools belong to all of us and that everyone has a role to play in helping them thrive. 

Each September, PENCIL is honored to connect BMI’s generous volunteers with MNPS because public education needs community involvement and leadership. And, when Nashville businesses show up for public education, PENCIL turns that generosity into action.