Though the bank’s presence in Fort Dodge is recent — FIB merged with Great Western Bank earlier this year — its commitment to community involvement runs deep, according to First Interstate Bank – Fort Dodge President Mike Larson

“It’s truly a community bank,” Larson said. “Without the communities we serve, we wouldn’t be around today, so this is something we believe in strongly.”

The bank’s more than 300 branches across 14 states closed at noon on Wednesday so that their employees could volunteer through various service projects in their communities. In Fort Dodge, 16 First Interstate Bank employees spent part of the afternoon packing food boxes, stocking shelves and unloading food deliveries at the Lord’s Cupboard food pantry.

The Lord’s Cupboard is located at 127 N. 10th St., just three blocks northeast of the bank’s downtown branch at 825 Central Ave.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Brianna Murray, a teller at First Interstate Bank, rolls in a cart of goods to restock the shelves at the Lord's Cupboard on Wednesday. Murray, along with 16 other First Interstate Bank employees, spent a few hours pitching in as part of the bank's day of volunteering.

“We see firsthand the need and the benefit that they provide,” Larson said.

Leading up to Wednesday’s Volunteer Day, Fort Dodge’s First Interstate Bank locations held a canned food drive to collect items to donate to the Lord’s Cupboard as well. Larson said both bank customers and employees brought items and cash to donate. The bank employees delivered a truck full of food and presented a check for $500 to the pantry.

Melanie Fierke, executive director of the Lord’s Cupboard, said the community food pantry would not exist if it weren’t for volunteers like the group from First Interstate Bank.

“We exist with two part-time staff and 30 to 40 volunteers a week,” Fierke said. “So I couldn’t do it without the volunteers.”

About 99 percent of the work that goes into keeping the food pantry running smoothly is done by volunteers, she said.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Employees of First Interstate Bank load up carts to restock the pantry at the Lord's Cupboard on Wednesday as part of the bank's companywide Volunteer Day.

“Without them, we wouldn’t be able to get the food unloaded from deliveries, put on the shelves, packed up and given to the clients,” Fierke said.

As the increased Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits expired with the wind down of the COVID-19 pandemic, communities across the state are seeing more and more families need to use the services of their local community food pantries, Fierke said.

During the pandemic, the Lord’s Cupboard would serve about 500 individuals each month, she said. Last month, 1,300 individuals were served.

After spending time at the Lord’s Cupboard, the First Interstate Bank group continued its volunteering with a service project cleaning up the downtown area ahead of Saturday’s Downtown Country Jam concert.