Surrey, B.C.: Coast Capital Savings has been selected as the recipient of the 2015 Giving Hearts Outstanding Corporation Award for its leadership in philanthropy and community investment.
The award from the Vancouver chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) was announced as part of its National Philanthropy Day celebration on November 17 and is based on nominations from local community and non-profit organizations. Coast Capital Savings was nominated for the top corporate prize by the Canadian Cancer Society, the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation, and the Canadian Red Cross. For more information on the award and Coast Capital’s nomination, watch the Giving Hearts video.
Don Coulter, Coast Capital Savings president and CEO, said the award is all the more special in a year that marks the credit union’s 75th anniversary and honours its value of people helping people, as demonstrated by both our employees and membership.
“Coast Capital’s strong commitment to investing in the communities we serve goes all the way back to the founding of our organization and is a key part of our credit union DNA,” Coulter said. “The Giving Hearts Award in the Outstanding Corporation category is truly an honour for Coast Capital Savings and especially for our employees, who are the vanguard of our community investment strategy through their active involvement and support.”
Coulter said Coast Capital’s community investment programs aim to help build a richer future for youth. According to Coulter, Coast Capital’s community investment efforts focus on youth programs that help build healthy minds, ensure strong and supportive family and social connections, enable young people to succeed in school, and provide them with the knowledge and skills to achieve financial well-being.
“Every year, Coast Capital Savings invests seven percent of our budgeted pre-tax earnings into youth-centred community programs, which amounted to $5.7 million last year,” Coulter said. “We’ve adopted a for-youth-by-youth approach, which includes empowering our Young Leaders Community Councils, made up of employees and community members, to review and approve funding requests.”
In addition to Coast Capital’s Giving Hearts Award, the credit union is an Imagine Canada Caring Company and a member of the London Benchmarking Group Canada, which provides standards for measuring corporate community investment across Canada. Other recent awards for Coast Capital Savings include recognition on Waterstone Human Capital’s list of Canada’s 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures™ and designation as a Platinum Club member of Canada’s Best Managed Companies program for the past 14 years.
Coulter expressed appreciation to the Canadian Cancer Society, the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation, and the Canadian Red Cross for nominating Coast Capital Savings for the Giving Hearts Outstanding Corporation Award, adding that the credit union has been privileged to work with these three valuable, longstanding community partners.
The Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Giving Hearts Award program was created to acknowledge the true expression of philanthropy and to recognize and celebrate the individuals and organizations that are making a difference in the community. For more information about the Giving Hearts Awards Program, visit www.afpvancouver.org or see the attached backgrounder.
About Coast Capital Savings
Coast Capital Savings is Canada’s largest credit union by membership, owned by its 522,000 members. It has 50 branches in the Metro Vancouver, Fraser Valley, and Vancouver Island regions of British Columbia and has exciting plans to grow. Product innovations include Canada's first free chequing account from a full-service financial institution. In 2014, we invested $5.7 million into our local communities, focusing on empowering and engaging youth. Coast Capital is one of Canada's 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures™, a member of Canada's Best Managed Companies Platinum Club, and an Imagine Canada Caring Company. To learn more, visit coastcapitalsavings.com.
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Email address: media@coastcapitalsavings.com