BEDFORD, IND. — The Bedford office of Monroe Bank (NASDAQ:MROE) will close at Noon on Wednesday, October 2 giving its employees a chance to give back to the community.

As a part of the Day of Caring for the United Way of Lawrence County, Monroe Bank's employees from the Bedford banking center will spend the afternoon at the Community Care Center at 1018 J Street, sorting through and categorizing donations, cleaning and helping to display donated items.

"It's such a reward for us," said Monroe Bank's Bedford banking center sales manager Julia Johnson. "Our Day of Caring shows us that we're much more than co-workers. We're community members, rolling up our sleeves to help strengthen our community. It's just great at the end of the afternoon to see the difference we can make."

Monroe Bank has a seven-year history of coordinating employee Day of Caring projects, providing a paid half-day off so the employees can take the time to volunteer together. The Bank's Monroe County banking centers joined that area's Day of Caring on September 11, its Hendricks County banking centers held their volunteer afternoon on September 13, and the Jackson County office Day of Caring was earlier this spring.

Monroe Bank's workforce translates into as many as 700 hours of hands-on volunteer service and nearly $10,500 in donated salaries and benefits across the board for the Day of Caring. The Bank's volunteer tradition extends far beyond the Day of Caring, though. Monroe Bank employees logged more than 7,000 unpaid volunteer hours at approximately 140 charitable organizations from July 2001 through July 2002. And so far in 2002, the corporation has made financial contributions to not-for-profit causes totaling more than $78,000.

The Bedford banking center, 3300 West 16 th Street, will resume normal business hours on October 3, its 24-hour ATM and drop-off deposit box will remain available while the banking center is closed on Wednesday.

Monroe Bancorp, headquartered in Bloomington, is an Indiana bank holding company with banking and ATM locations in Monroe, Jackson, Lawrence and Hendricks counties. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Monroe Bank, was established in Bloomington, Indiana in 1892, and offers a full range of financial, trust and investment services to its more than 20,000 retail and commercial customers. The Company's common stock is traded on the Nasdaq® National Stock Market under the symbol MROE.