First National Bank recently awarded $956,000 in community development grants to 51 organizations in Colorado, Nebraska, Illinois, Kansas and South Dakota.
The grants, which support programs focused on educated workforce initiatives that will help strengthen individual core competencies and lead to improving personal economic self-sufficiency, mark the bank’s final round of grant awards this year. First National Bank gave a total of $1,870,000 in community development grants in 2018 to 98 organizations across its seven-state service area.
First National Bank awarded $698,000 in community development grants to 30 organizations across Nebraska and western Iowa. Grants supporting educated workforce initiatives will enable a projected 19,000 individuals to move closer to self-sufficiency.
In Colorado, First National Bank awarded $124,000 in community development grants to 11 organizations, reaching a projected 3,600 individuals through educated workforce initiatives. The bank gave $65,000 in grants to five organizations in Illinois, reaching about 1,500 people. In Kansas, three organizations received $44,000 to reach about 7,000 people, and $24,000 in grants went to two groups in South Dakota impacting about 1,400 people (a complete list of organizations is available on First National’s website).
“Our community development grant program is dedicated to improving economic self-sufficiency within all of the communities we call home by partnering with community organizations that provide education, training and life-skills improvement that helps individuals gain employment, advance their careers and improve their financial well-being,” said Alec Gorynski, First National vice president of community development.
The $20.1 billion First National Bank also awarded $914,000 in community development grants to 47 organizations in Nebraska, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, South Dakota and Texas in the second quarter of this year. The grants supported programs focused on increasing access to stable housing, revitalizing neighborhoods and building strong local economies.