Capital One Financial Corporation this week will kick off its 3rd annual One Week national community service initiative, building on the company’s strong tradition of employee volunteerism. During One Week, Capital One associates will volunteer with hundreds of nonprofit organizations through more than 900 projects designed to help address economic and social needs of the communities where they live and work. To maximize impact, the company is strategically pursuing projects with, and allocating human resources to, nonprofits with which it has existing partnerships in the areas of education, financial literacy, affordable housing and economic development.
“At Capital One, community engagement and investment have always been about much more than simply writing a check,” said Carolyn Berkowitz, President, Capital One Foundation and Managing Vice President, Community Affairs, Capital One Financial Corporation. “While our associates are active volunteers all year long, One Week is a special time for us to serve together and use our collective talents to address the most pressing community needs. Our efforts as individuals and as a company are amplified by the expertise and insights of our local non-profit partners. What we’re able to accomplish in this single week is a powerful reminder of the impact we can all achieve together. “
As part of One Week, Capital One is expanding its partnership with The Heart of America Foundation®, a national nonprofit that provides children in need with the tools to read, succeed and make a difference, to support education and encourage literacy across the nation. Since 2002, Capital One and the Heart of America Foundation have together donated 1,164,312 books valued at $9.6 million to 481,209 students.
As part of its Heart of America Foundation commitment during One Week, Capital One volunteers will lead five READesign® Library Makeover projects, distribute thousands of books to children in need, and launch an online campaign, Book by Book, where consumers can vote on their favorite children’s books online for donation to students and schools in need. The READesign projects will bring associates together to transform rundown school libraries into vibrant, stimulating centers of learning for communities in need. The Book by Book online campaign will put the most beloved children’s books – as decided by Capital One associates, customers and consumers – into the hands of more children. For every “like” Capital One receives on its Investing for Good Facebook page during the campaign, the company will donate a book to a child or library in need, up to 50,000 books. To learn more about Capital One Book by Book and to vote on your favorite children’s book titles, visit www.capitalone.com/bookbybook.
Capital One is also expanding its work with food banks across the country to fight hunger through an online food drive. Through a company-wide food drive kicking off during One Week, Capital One associates will aim to donate two million meals through more than 36 food banks in the U.S. and Canada.
Across the country, Capital One associates will participate in hundreds of service projects this week, including:
- In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, volunteers will build an outdoor reading room underneath a giant oak tree at Bernard Terrace Elementary School to help local youth in the community develop a love of reading.
- In Las Vegas, volunteers will mentor high school students aspiring to pursue Finance careers, and will provide a new school library and donate thousands of books to the students at J.D. Smith Middle School.
- In New York City, Capital One volunteers will partner with The Heart of America Foundation to open a READesign® College Access Room that will provide financial literacy and college application resources at the Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School in Harlem.
- In Richmond, Virginia, volunteers will renovate the library at Chimborazo Elementary School, give library tours to parents, and participate in financial literacy-themed sports activities with Radio Disney.
- In Texas, volunteers will renovate a school library at John Marshall Middle School in Houston and will join a neighborhood beautification project in East Plano.
- In Washington, D.C., children at THEARC will participate in a Fall Harvest Party with family-friendly activities and fun gardening projects to winterize THEARC Organic Community Garden.
- In Wilmington, Delaware, more than 1,000 school students from Bancroft Elementary, East Side Charter and Elbert Palmer Elementary will receive financial literacy lessons.
One Week service initiatives are part of Capital One’s Investing for Good community investment platform, which focuses on four areas that are key building blocks of economic opportunity: Affordable Housing, Education, Small Business and Workforce Development, and Financial Literacy. In 2011, Capital One associates served more than 192,000 hours through company-sponsored volunteer activities.
[EDITORS NOTE: Members of the media are invited to attend select One Week initiatives. Contact shelley.solheim@capitalone.com for event details and press passes.]
About Capital One
Capital One Financial Corporation, headquartered in McLean, Virginia, is a Fortune 500 company with approximately 1,000 branch locations primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Its subsidiaries, Capital One, N.A., Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., and ING Bank, fsb, offer a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients. We apply the same principles of innovation, collaboration and empowerment in our commitment to our communities across the country that we do in our business. We recognize that helping to build strong and healthy communities – good places to work, good places to do business and good places to raise families – benefits us all and we are proud to support this and other community initiatives.
Contacts:
Shelley Solheim, 917-589-6203
shelley.solheim@capitalone.com
