The South Cariboo Health Foundation (SCHF) received a sizable donation from the Royal Bank of Canada to mark the bank's milestone 50th anniversary in 100 Mile House.
The $25,000 donation from the RBC Foundation was given to the SCHF for many reasons, explains local RBC community manager Scott Saito.
“RBC is committed to supporting communities where we work and live. Our support of hospitals through our branch anniversary program is about celebrating the history of the community and the community members.
"Hospitals tend to impact everyone, and usually share a history of community presence as a town generally needs a hospital and a bank to be established. In addition to the $25,000 donation, we have been able to donate another $15,000 to various community groups and charities through our Days of Service program this year.”
The Days of Service program requires a minimum of three RBC employees along with three members of a charity to do at least three hours of volunteer work together. Once completed, RBC is able to donate $1,000 from the RBC Foundation to the charity to support their cause.
This program really shows the commitment of RBC employees to give back to the community and the support RBC provides in celebration of employee volunteers, Saito says.
“Between these two programs, and other smaller donations we have made throughout the community this year, we have topped $50,000 in total donations to 100 Mile House and it's community members. "With it being our 50th anniversary this year, it was my goal at the beginning of the year to find a way to contribute $50,000 in donations and with a lot of hard work and volunteer hours, and the support of RBC, we have been able to do that.”
Saito thanks RBC staff and all the community groups they had the opportunity to work with this year, and to RBC Foundation for the financial support and its commitment to its employees and the community.
The $25,000 donation was “good timing” says Mary Shennum, chair of the SCHF, as the foundation is helping to finance a local urology services program, which was approved by Interior Health in April.