What does “be the difference” mean to you? To us, being the difference means giving back to our community. This summer the Bank created a social media contest with real life results, wherein the non-profit with the most Facebook votes would be awarded $10,000.

The Friends of the Topeka Zoo won the $10,000 financial boost after the community rallied and voted them to the top on our Facebook page. However, the other two finalists did not go home empty handed. The Topeka Doula Project came in second place and received $2,000, while Valeo Behavioral Health Center received $1,000.

“What we wanted to do was encourage awareness not only for the bank, but all of the community organizations that helped to build the Topeka community and Shawnee County and that helped build and sustain the great quality of life and service that we have,” John Fager First Senior Vice President, Senior Director of Sales and Marketing told the Topeka Capital Journal.

The Facebook campaign ran from August 1^st until August 31^st and received more than 18,000 votes. The public was encouraged to vote daily for their favorite community group, which resulted in more than 120 unique non-profits being nominated. The aforementioned three rose to the top due to the daily votes from their loyal supporters.

"We can have a community with a very strong fabric as long as we take care of each other and we give back some of what we have earned,” Duane Fager, Chairman of the Board, said.