Bank of the West 2009 Annual Report Download - page 19

California for 35 years. In addition to more than
$30,000 in charitable donations, we provided AltaMed
with a $5 million line of credit to bridge funding
gaps in Medi-Cal and Medicare receivables caused by
disruptions to the California state budget.
In Portland, we’ve developed a relationship with the
Native American Youth and Family Center, providing
contributions, volunteer participation and financial
education, plus a $2.5 million commercial real estate
loan for a building with classrooms, a cafeteria and
an auditorium.
FINANCIAL LITERACY
Financial education and literacy continue to be a major
emphasis for the bank. Partnering with Operation
Hope, the Elder Financial Protection Network, Junior
Achievement and other groups, we work to strengthen
the ability of all Americans to manage their personal
finances. Among other projects, we enabled the YMCA
of Silicon Valley to teach the value of saving to groups
of low-income elementary students at Campo Alegre in
the Santa Cruz mountains.
ENVIRONMENTAL CITIZENSHIP
Our environmental citizenship efforts in 2009 focused
on energy efficiency, reduced paper use, increased
recycling, and ‘green’ design characteristics for a major
new bank facility.
In designing a single new office facility to replace six
smaller buildings and house more than 1,500 employees,
we’re using sustainable materials and creating open
work stations to maximize use of available natural light.
We also reduced paper use bank-wide by 10%, and we
expect to see a further 20% reduction resulting from this
effort in 2010.
COMMUNITY EVENT SPONSORSHIP
Events serve an important role in community building
and we are proud to sponsor events that contribute to
community well-being, ranging from university sports
programs in California, Colorado and other states to free
public concerts in Omaha and Des Moines, to Cheyenne
Frontier Days and our signature Bank of the West Classic
women’s professional tennis tournament held each year
at Stanford University.
The March of Dimes has been a popular cause at the
bank for more than a decade. Each spring hundreds of
bank employees participate in fundraising efforts
through the March for Babies, the national charity’s
largest effort to generate giving to support research and
direct service in the reduction of birth defects and low
birth weight.
Volunteers like Orange County branch managers Cynthia Pearson, left, and Maria Thomas, have made our annual campaign one of the top
corporate producers in the country.
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