Citi Global Community Day 2017

by Penny Angeles-Tan | Jun 18, 2017 | Business

Citi celebrated its 12^th annual Global Community Day on June 10, with more than 4,600 Citi volunteers in the Philippines joining the efforts of nearly 100,000 of their colleagues, family and friends in 500 cities in 91 countries and territories to engage in service activities in their local communities.

In the days leading up to and including Global Community Day, Citi volunteers participated in more than 1,500 service projects ranging from urban revitalization to mentorship and job skills training, literacy and education, environmental conservation and disaster relief.

Global Community Day offers a wide range of opportunities to work alongside community and non-profit partners to help improve our cities and neighborhoods.

Michael Corbat, Citi CEO

“Citi’s annual Global Community Day is an important event for our firm and one I always look forward to,” said Citi CEO Michael Corbat.

“It provides an opportunity to deepen our relationships with communities we serve, which is absolutely vital to our business success. And it shows the impact we can have when our people show up in force — nearly 100,000 strong this year.”

Aftad Ahmed, Citi Philippines CEO

Leading by example, CEO for Citi Philippines Aftab Ahmed volunteered on back-to-back weekends starting June 3. Together with hundreds of volunteers, they helped Upper Bicutan National High School get ready for opening of classes by cleaning classrooms, painting chairs, and covering textbooks with plastic to be good as new.

On June 10, he showed support for persons with disabilities by joining their Freedom Walk in Quezon City Circle with nearly 300 volunteers.

“I am heartened to see the strong interest and enthusiasm among our employees, allowing us to set record participation year after year. I know that Citi employees make a difference every day in the communities where we live and work. However, with Global Community Day, we are able to unite across businesses and across the world and really demonstrate the difference a global bank can make,” said Ahmed.

Since the inaugural Global Community Day in 2006, Citi volunteers have contributed more than three million hours of service to Global Community Day projects in hundreds of cities. This year, Citi volunteers led hundreds of community projects across the world, some of which included:

Asia Pacific

Across Asia Pacific, there were more than 250 volunteer activities including:

• In Australia, volunteers led workshops for young people from the Brotherhood of St. Laurence’s “Creating Futures for Youth” program to help improve their employability.
• In China, Citi participated in events that delivered financial education through fun games to children and senior citizens.
• In Japan, volunteers were participating in events to improve the environment, brighten the lives of children with serious illnesses and raise awareness to promote diversity and workplace equality.

Latin America and Mexico

Across Latin America and Mexico, there are more than 100 volunteer activities including:

• In Mexico, volunteers engaged in a range of activities from donating, packing and serving meals to delivering financial education. Citi’s CEO Mike Corbat volunteered at the Emiliano Zapata primary school helping to revitalize learning spaces and joined volunteers at the Food Bank Association to help distribute nutritional food to families in need.
• Citi Venezuela is celebrating 100 years in the country, and as part of Global Community Day, volunteers revitalized the green spaces of the Universidad Central de Venezuela, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
• Together with the Red Cross and the J/P Haitian Relief Organization, Citi volunteers in Haiti were contributing to the reforestation of Canaan in Croix-des-Bouquets by planting 3,000 trees and facilitating an environmental awareness session at a local school on the importance of preserving the environment and

Europe, Middle East and Africa

Across Europe, Middle East and Africa, there were nearly 500 volunteer activities including:

• Across the United Kingdom, Citi volunteers participated in sustainability-related efforts, helping deliver career ready programming for young people, and redecorated a primary school to improve the learning environment.
• In Greece, volunteers revitalized a children’s summer camp to ensure children have a safe and clean place to play.
• Volunteers in Romania beautified the green area of Fundeni Hospital by clearing trash and putting up a playground, a small greenhouse and a picnic area for hospitalized children.

North America

Across the United States and Canada, there were nearly 700 volunteer activities including:

• At Citi’s global headquarters in New York City, Citi teamed up with Feeding Children Everywhere to assemble over 200,000 healthy meals to help combat hunger, beautified and cleaned up green spaces along the Hudson River, assembled and distributed bicycles for low-income youth, and wrote ‘Thank You’ letters and packing hygiene kits for veterans.
• In New Jersey, Citi volunteers created costumes for children in local hospitals, made a difference for young people and veterans by conducting mock interviews for professional IT jobs, and planted at the Wagner Farm Arboretum, a farm that helps increase environmental awareness.
• In Canada, Citi volunteers hosted mock interviews to help youth increase their employability, cleaned the parkland behind Hershey Centre, built a home with Habitat for Humanity and prepared and served meals for those in need.

To learn more about Citi’s citizenship efforts across the globe and to review the 2016 Global Citizenship Report, visit http://citizenship.citigroup.com.