Community Service

First Western Bank participates in annual Volunteer Week

EPLN Staff Reports

November 2, 2025

Catherin Henne and Colleen Remington show off some of the tie blankets the Eden Prairie branch of First Western Bank produced for October’s Volunteer Week. Photos courtesy of First Western Bank

The Eden Prairie branch of First Western Bank participated in the company’s annual October Volunteer Week with a variety of community activities.

Out-of-bank activities included volunteering at VEAP (Volunteers Enlisted to Assist People), the Twin Cities’ largest food bank. While there, First Western Bank representatives sorted and packed over two tons (4,000 pounds) of potatoes.

4 people in aprons around a commercial kitchen chopping carrots — From left to right, First Western Bank employees Shea Rehm, Melissa Leucafiranek, Noah Reed and Peter Haugen are shown preparing vegetables at Loaves and Fishes.

At Loaves and Fishes, a Minneapolis-based organization with a mission of providing healthy meals to Minnesotans in need, First Western Bank volunteers assisted the chef with preparation of meals that Loaves and Fishes would later distribute. Bank representatives washed and chopped carrots and potatoes and helped to prepare them to be roasted.

First Western Bank also made a $750 donation on the bank’s behalf to both VEAP and Loaves and Fishes.

woman sitting at in-office desk hand tying a pink blanket — In-bank activities included creating tie blankets and coloring pictures for Color a Smile. At left, Leslie Kewatt works on a tie blanket at her desk.

A fan on a desk of hand-colored pages with cheerful messages and images — In-bank activities included creating tie blankets and coloring pictures for Color a Smile. At left, Leslie Kewatt works on a tie blanket at her desk.

Volunteer Week also included in-bank activities. Bank employees colored over 50 pictures for Color a Smile, a nonprofit organization that distributes cheerful drawings to nursing homes, hospitals, meals delivery programs, troops overseas, and anyone in need of a smile. They also created 10 tie blankets for Children’s Minnesota hospital, part of one of the largest freestanding pediatric health systems in the United States.

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