PORT ANGELES — First Federal continues to support the communities that support it, officials said while announcing recent grants from First Federal Community Foundation.
The nonprofit foundation has awarded $741,300 to organizations and projects in Clallam, Jefferson and Kitsap counties since its inception in January 2015.
“First Federal has a legacy of giving back to the community,” said Karen McCormick, executive director of the foundation and past president and CEO of First Federal, in a recent interview.
“It has always done that since it opened its doors in 1923. The bank wanted to continue that legacy in a very big way.”
The foundation, a private 501(c)(3) charitable corporation, started with a gift of $400,000 in cash and 933,360 shares of stock in First Northwest Bancorp, the parent company of First Federal Savings and Loan Association, upon the bank’s conversion to a public company in January 2015.
The foundation provides grants for community support, affordable housing, economic development and community development in communities where First Federal operates a full-service branch.
First Federal has branches in Port Angeles, Port Townsend, Sequim, Forks, Silverdale and Bellingham.
August grants
Ten local nonprofits received a total of $441,300 in the foundation’s first round of grant awards announced last August.
Among them was a $100,000 donation to the Dungeness River Audubon Society for the replacement of the deck on Railroad Bridge over the Dungeness River near Sequim.
Efforts to renovate the deck on the historical bridge were slowed after a storm damaged the trestle in February 2015.
“The Railroad Bridge is part of our local heritage,” McCormick said in a news release from First Federal.
“We are delighted at the opportunity to partner with the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe and the Dungeness River Audubon Center to bring about its restoration.”
Second round
A second round of gifts totaling $300,000 to 15 nonprofits was announced by the foundation last October.
The largest of these grants was a $70,000 gift to the Olympic Peninsula YMCA for a new Jefferson County YMCA facility and $70,000 for a program at Harrison Medical Center in Kitsap County.
Also included was a $50,000 grant to Habitat for Humanity of East Jefferson County for a home in Port Townsend’s Birkenfeld Community; $30,000 to the Port Townsend School of Woodworking for capital improvements, new equipment and vocation program development; $25,000 to the Fort Worden Public Development Agency for renovations to residential buildings at Fort Worden State Park; and $5,000 to the Feiro Marine Life Center in Port Angeles to provide funds for the agency’s volunteer training program.
Third round
First Federal Community Foundation is accepting applications for its third funding period through March 1. The next funding round will be announced in late April, McCormick said.
“What we really look at when we’re making grants is the breadth of impact on the community,” McCormick said.
“That’s very important to us.”
The bank itself continues to make smaller donations to community projects apart from the foundation.
McCormick served as president and CEO of First Federal for 13 years before retiring in 2009.
“I’m just delighted having a role with the foundation,” she said Tuesday.
Current First Federal President and CEO Larry Hueth has held the position since December 2012.
For information on the First Federal Community Foundation, see www.firstfedcf.org.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.