Employees of The First, N.A. recently raised $600.10 for Morris Farm Wiscasset Primary School Garden in Wiscasset. First employees in 15 branch locations collected the funds in exchange for the privilege of dressing casually on Fridays in February.

Since 1995, employees of The First have been dressing casually on Fridays in support of charitable organizations throughout their market areas in Maine. Each participating employee contributes one dollar to the Casual for a Cause fund in exchange for the privilege of dressing casually. After the funds are collected, a check is presented to an employee-nominated, non-profit organization.

The Morris Farm Wiscasset Primary School Garden is a collaboration between the school, farm, and FARMS (Focus on Agriculture in Rural Maine Schools), a local no-profit  that connects classrooms, farms, cafeterias, and communities through hands-on educational programs.

The garden was started in 2009 by Kim Anderson, and each spring students plant a Thanksgiving themed garden, harvest what they planted in the fall, and donate produce to the Thanksgiving food drive through PIE (Partners In Education). Abby Plummer, aka “Farm Abby,” coordinates the Wiscasset program as the Youth Gardens Program Director for FARMS.

The First is a genuine community bank serving the people of Maine for nearly 150 years with offices in Bar Harbor, Blue Hill, Boothbay Harbor, Calais, Camden, Damariscotta, Eastport, Ellsworth, Northeast Harbor, Rockland, Rockport, Southwest Harbor, Waldoboro and Wiscasset and now in downtown Bangor on Exchange Street. For more information about The First, please call 1-800-564-3195 or visit www.thefirst.com/. You can also find The First on Facebook.