First National Cares wraps up a very caring 2025

For decades, the people of First National have given their all to support important charitable causes, proving along the way that caring for others is in our nature.  

In 2024, we decided to take our community-giving program to the next level by being intentional about how, where and why we engage so that our collective efforts have the greatest possible impact on deserving communities and causes.  

We chose to call our program First National Cares.  

True to the program’s name, in 2025 our teams from coast to coast demonstrated their caring nature, first by supporting Second Harvest. It is Canada’s largest food rescue organization.  

Starting in the spring, 245 members of our Toronto team volunteered at Second Harvest, sorting more than 26,000 pounds of potatoes, 5,600 pounds of carrots and more than 8,500 pounds of shallots and onions destined for the city’s food banks and charitable organizations.  

Not to be outdone, our teams in Halifax, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver joined in, packaging more than 11,000 food bags at Second Harvest locations in their respective communities in the fall. For all of us, it was a labour of love knowing that the need is great. Second Harvest tells us that one in four Canadians faces food insecurity every day and that in total during 2025, First National Cares provided 794 volunteer hours, covered 310,606 meals and helped Second Harvest avert 1,051,303 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions from entering the atmosphere. Notably, food loss and waste are said to account for more than 8% of GHG emissions. With our help, Second Harvest not only put more food on plates, it made a positive contribution to the natural environment. 

The spirit of First National Cares compelled us to be active in other ways. Throughout the year, we raised funds that were donated to the Red Cross to help the victims of wildfires in Manitoba and Saskatchewan and those displaced by Hurricane Melissa and flooding in the Philippines. 

We contributed $30,000 to the United Way with proceeds from a bake sale and online draws. 

Through our diversity celebrations, we raised $9,500 with proceeds earmarked for the Chinese Canadian Museum, the McLaren Housing Society in Vancouver, Skipping Stone in Calgary, Friends of Ruby in Toronto, and the Canadian Women’s Foundation. 

Proving that caring can be fun, we also raised funds for SickKids® hospital in Toronto by participating in a beach volleyball tournament last summer. 

First National Cares is a movement and an attitude shared by all of us who work here. We look forward to caring in big and small ways throughout 2026. Because it’s in our nature.