First National celebrates Caribana

Caribana is the largest cultural festival in North America and since 1967, a staple of summer in the GTA. 

This year, with inspiration from Traces, our Employee Resource Group, Caribana celebrations took over our lunchroom as we paid tribute to freedom, inclusivity and allyship and learned more about the deeper meaning of Carnival as a tradition for enslaved people to commemorate emancipation. 

Our sincere thanks to Roywoods for preparing delectable jerk chicken, the Pan Fantasy Steel Band and costumed dancers for keeping us wildly entertained, and the members of Traces and our social committee for their inspiring event organization.  

To foster a sense of community, we participated in a Carnival quiz leading up to our event. Congratulations to our winners.   

Supporting Hurricane Beryl Relief  

Beryl was one of the strongest hurricanes to hit the Caribbean in recent memory. Making landfall as a category 4 hurricane, it left a path of destruction in the region. In support of Red Cross relief efforts, and in honour of Caribana Festival, First National proudly organized an employee-match donation drive to the Hurricane Beryl Appeal. Thank you to everyone who donated.