Thirteen community bankers were hailed for going above and beyond last night at Banker & Tradesman’s annual Community Bank Heroes awards ceremony.

About 100 of their friends, family and colleagues joined them in Boston to connect and share stories about the volunteer spirit in their communities.

Honoree Sonia Alleyne of Sovereign Bank recalled starting a fundraising campaign for a struggling co-worker who wanted to buy her daughter a Christmas gift. Another award winner, Dennis Acker from the Gloucester branch of Sovereign Bank, talked about how he divided his days into “family time, work time and non-profit time.”

Robert Gillis of Cape Ann Savings Bank brushed off the suggestion that he might be a hero, instead applying the label to his friends and neighbors working in emergency services.

“Those are heroes. I’m the beneficiary,” he said. “The very least I can do is to help out a little when I can.”

Bankers aren’t required to perform community service. Banker and Tradesman’s Community Bank Heroes recognizes those bankers, nominated by their peers, who work an extra hour at the local soup kitchen or pitch in to help out a struggling family next door. It’s not a sentence or an obligation for them – it’s a joy.

“I don’t have to do community service as part of my job,” Erica LeMire from Haverhill Bank said. “I just do what I like to do.”

Also honored at last night’s event were Pamela Feingold, Eastern Bank; Kathleen Kelly, First Trade Union Bank; John Murphy, Reading Co-operative Bank; William Parent, Blue Hills Bank; William Quinn, Lowell Five Bank; Joseph Riley, Eastern Bank; Jonathan Towslee, Mt. Washington Bank; Sushil Tuli, Leader Bank; and William Wagner, Chicopee Savings Bank.