A representative of the Raquette Lake Preservation Foundation holds up a donation check from a branch of Community Bank N.A., in honor of National Good Neighbor Day. (Photo provided by Community Bank N.A.)

PLATTBURGH — For the third consecutive year, Community Bank N.A. celebrated National Good Neighbor Day on Monday, Sept. 28. Branches across the bank’s four-state footprint marked the day by donating a total of $60,000 to nonprofits in the community.

To mark Good Neighbor Day 2020, each branch chose an organization to donate to based on specific needs in their community. In the Adirondack region, Community Bank supported a variety of nonprofits, including the Saranac Lake Volunteer Fire Department, Saranac Lake Volunteer Rescue Squad Inc., Tupper Lake Ecumenical Fund, Lake Placid Ecumenical Food Pantry, Fort Covington Volunteer Fire Department, Chateaugay Food Pantry, Adirondack Community Outreach Center, Raquette Lake Preservation Foundation, JCEO/Food Shelf in Plattsburgh, Out of the Box Worship Center/ Whitehall Strong, Malone Chamber of Commerce, Randolph Lions Club, Firefighters Haunted House Inc. in Plattsburgh, Ticonderoga Food Pantry, Indian Lake Theater and VFW Post 1418 in Champlain.

In addition to Good Neighbor Day, Community Bank donated $45,000 to local nonprofits in April to aid them during the COVID-19 crisis. In May, the bank purchased $22,000 in gift cards from local restaurants and donated them to health care facilities throughout the bank’s four-state footprint in New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Massachusetts.

National Good Neighbor Day was created in 1971 by Becky Mattson from Lakeside, Montana, and proclaimed a national day by President Jimmy Carter in 1978 to raise public awareness that good neighbors help achieve human understanding and build strong, thriving communities. It is celebrated annually on Sept. 28 as a day of gratitude and community building.

Community Bank operates more than 240 customer facilities across upstate New York, northeastern Pennsylvania, Vermont and western Massachusetts.

“Community is part of our name and is something we take very seriously,” Community Bank President and CEO Mark Tryniski said in a press release. “National Good Neighbor Day has become an annual tradition that our employees look forward to each year — to celebrate the love we have for our friends and neighbors while giving back.”