The country’s largest bank says it’s making one of the biggest corporate donations in the country’s history, announcing Thursday $100-million over five years to support after school programs and other youth initiatives.
Royal Bank of Canada says its new “Believe in Kids Pledge” will consolidate the bank’s current support for children’s causes and includes funding for new programs.
“The Pledge includes $25 million for new, multi-year programs to be unveiled in the next few months,” RBC said in statement.
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Under the plan, $7.4 million of the new funds will begin to flow immediately to 231 after-school and children’s mental health programs.
Gord Nixon, RBC’s president and CEO said in a statement the aim is to directly help one million kids by 2018.
“Today’s five-year commitment is just the starting line. RBC will develop a best-practice framework for tracking and reporting on the impact of our investments so we learn from experience and consistently direct funds where they have the most positive outcomes for kids and youth.”
The announcement comes as RBC’s public image continues to recover from backlash earlier this year when the bank appeared to be slashing domestic jobs in favour of outsourced IT support from a foreign company based in India.
“Ensuring our children and youth receive support throughout critical stages in their development is a priority for society and an important area of focus for RBC,” Nixon said.
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