With fourth-quarter contributions of $609,453, First National Bank Alaska and its employees gave $973,016 to Alaska communities in 2023. This total includes charitable gifts, activity and community sponsorships, and in-kind donations of time and talent during the past year.
“First National is proud of our wide-ranging support of the diverse communities and organizations that make Alaska such a vibrant place to work and live,” said Betsy Lawer, First National Board Chair and CEO/President. “More than a century of experience has taught us the bank’s success starts with the communities and Alaskans we serve – when they thrive, so do we.”
Health, youth, social service, educational, civic, and arts organizations from around the state were First National donation recipients in the past year.
As has been the case throughout the bank’s history, Alaska’s youth were central to First National’s support. The bank continued its history of contributions to organizations such as the Alaska School Activities Association, Alaska Children’s Trust, Boys and Girls Clubs, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Rural Alaska Honors Institute, Covenant House Alaska, and Junior Achievement of Alaska.
Significant donations to Alaska Pacific University, Ilisagvik College, Alaska SeaLife Center, Anchorage Museum, and the University of Alaska Foundation, including funding of the First National Bank Alaska Finance Lab on the University of Alaska Anchorage campus, continued the bank’s focus on education.
Other noteworthy contributions in 2023 included those to United Way organizations statewide, Alaska Center for the Performing Arts, Alaska Public Radio Network, American Red Cross of Alaska, Alaska Federation of Natives, Alutiiq Museum, American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women, Anchorage Project Access, Anchorage Economic Development Corporation, Breast Cancer Detection Center of Alaska, Challenge Alaska, Community Connections, Shiloh Community Housing, Kuskokwim 300 Race Committee, Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic, Special Olympics Alaska, United Human Services of Southeast Alaska, Alyeska Ski Club, Armed Services YMCA, and the Alaska Division of the Salvation Army among many, many others.
In addition to these donations, bank employees volunteered hundreds of hours to assist organizations and the people they serve. First National Bank Alaska also donated thousands of dollars through in-kind gift items such as, office supplies, door prizes, vouchers and other consumable items.
Alaska’s community bank since 1922, First National proudly meets the financial needs of Alaskans with ATMs and 28 locations in 19 communities throughout the state and by providing banking services to meet their needs across the nation and around the world.
In 2023, Alaska Business readers voted First National “Best of Alaska Business” in the Best Place to Work category for the eighth year in a row, Best Bank/Credit Union for the third time running, and Best Corporate Citizen for the fourth time. American Banker recognized First National as a “Best Bank to Work For” for the sixth year running. The bank was also voted “Best of Alaska” in the Anchorage Daily News awards for the fifth year in a row, earning the top spot, the Platinum Award in the Bank/Financial category.
First National Bank Alaska is a Member FDIC and Equal Housing Lender.