United Way has recognized Wells Fargo with a Summit Award for exceptional volunteerism as a testament to actions the company and its employees took to improve lives and local communities. “Community involvement is an essential part of the Wells Fargo culture from top to bottom,” said United Way Worldwide Executive Vice President Atul Tandon. “This year, Wells Fargo championed their local communities across the nation and rallied team members to become the largest employee campaign in the entire U.S. Wells Fargo and its team members stepped up in every possible way, increasing volunteer hours as well as giving more of their financial resources. We can’t thank them enough for their exceptional generosity, leadership and commitment to helping others. Truly, they have re-set the bar for giving and volunteering.”
In addition to giving $202 million in grants to support non-profits, more than 32,000 Wells Fargo team members volunteered 1.23 million hours in 2009. Volunteer activities included:
►Delivering more than 2,500 financial literacy classes teaching 38,000 participants about saving.
►Providing free tax preparation and assistance to hardworking low-income families at Volunteer Income Tax Assistance sites.
►Training more than 13,000 students in Teach Children to Save outreach.
►Reading to children in more than 4,000 classrooms, as well as providing over 41,000 books.
►Serving on more than 10,000 non-profit boards across the country.
Wells Fargo also provides numerous volunteer awards and incentives including 16 hours of paid volunteer time annually, Cash for Your Cause foundation grants, outstanding volunteer of the year awards, volunteer service awards with grants to nonprofits, a Dream Builder award for top affordable housing volunteer, and a unique volunteer leave program that provides fully paid leaves up to four months for Wells Fargo team members to help non-profits with significant, impactful projects. In 2009, 21 team members received paid volunteer leave totaling over 40 months. Projects ranged from running a camp for children with cancer to creating bilingual curriculum at a local elementary school to working with non-profits in India on microfinance.
“To be honored with the United Way Spirit of America Award in community volunteerism reflects the spirit of our culture and our vision and values,” said Jon R. Campbell, executive vice president, social responsibility group at Wells Fargo. “I am incredibility proud of the dedication and compassion our team shows by generously investing their time, energy, and personal financial resources to help their neighborhoods and communities succeed. In 2009 alone, our team members recorded more than 1.2 million volunteer hours and raised $41.9 million during the Annual Community Support and United Way Campaign. Our partnership with the United Way is an integral part of our effort to build strong, safe and healthy communities.”
Business Week ranks Wells Fargo the number two most generous corporate foundation across all industries. Further, Wells Fargo has been recognized by Forbes, Business Week, Newsweek and Barron’s as one of the world’s most admired, most generous and most respected companies.
The United Way Spirit of America and Summit Awards Program, now in its 23rd year, is United Way’s highest national honor for a corporation, recognizing the United Way Global Corporate Leadership company with the most comprehensive commitment to improving lives and strengthening communities. Applicants are evaluated by corporate peers, labor representatives and local United Ways.
For more information, visit www.wellsfargo.com.
