First Interstate Bank employees traded their desks for the community Wednesday afternoon, closing every branch at noon and fanning out across five Great Falls nonprofits for the bank's ninth annual Volunteer Day.
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Employees spent the afternoon laying sod for NeighborWorks Great Falls, walking dogs and cleaning at the Great Falls Animal Shelter, painting walls and prepping meals at Alliance for Youth, packing back-to-school food bags at the Community Food Bank, and helping Toby's House Crisis Nursery prepare for a move to a new facility.
For Abbie Groskreutz, community branch manager at First Interstate Bank, the motivation is straightforward.
"Just giving generously to our communities because we care about them. We're here. We might as well," Groskreutz said.
Now in its ninth year, First Interstate's Volunteer Day mobilizes employees across 10 states for nearly 400 community service projects in a single afternoon — a tradition that began in 2018 as part of the bank's 50th anniversary celebration.
For the nonprofits on the receiving end, the impact goes beyond a feel-good afternoon. Laramie Smovir, operations manager at the Great Falls Animal Shelter, says volunteer support is essential to keeping the facility running.
"The goal is to try and alleviate some of that heavy lift that we have to do throughout the day and make sure that we're able to keep our facility safe, clean, and secure for the animals that are here," Smovir said.
Smovir adds that the shelter is always looking for consistent volunteers — not just for special occasions, but year-round. Anyone interested in volunteering at the Great Falls Animal Shelter can contact the shelter directly.
First Interstate Bank says Volunteer Day will return next year. More information about the bank's community involvement efforts can be found at firstinterstatebank.com.
