BILLINGS – It was a day in the life at First Interstate Bank in downtown Billings Thursday morning, as the company’s CEO stepped into the shoes of a bank teller, all because he made good on a promise.
CEO Kevin Riley worked as an ordinary bank teller for a couple of hours as incentive to garner more donations for the community. The idea, Riley says, came from an employee.
The deal: for every $5,000 raised by employees for the less fortunate, Riley would work the teller line for an hour.
So that’s what he did.
Every year the employees participate in a donation program called Neighbors Feeding Neighbors. This year, they raised $11,000.
“We raised $11,000 so I have to be here for two hours. It’s great to be able to learn what our tellers actually do so it gives me an opportunity to come down here and actually understand the function,” said Riley.
According to information provided by First Interstate Bank officials, since 2009, employees have been participating in various Neighbors Feeding Neighbors events across the First Interstate footprint, totaling more than $1.1 million in donations the past nine years.
Funds raised for Neighbors Feeding Neighbors help support hunger and food scarcity programs across First Interstate’s six-state footprint from South Dakota to the Pacific coast.
Officials say that means all of that $11,000 raised will stay in the Billings area and go to help families in need for the Christmas season.
