SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) today announced the launch of the Wells Fargo Holiday Food Bank program to make more meals possible in communities this holiday season. Working with United Way Worldwide to create a long-term, high impact program that will support hunger-related causes in our local communities, Wells Fargo donated an additional $5 million grant to the United Way in support of this effort.
According to a recent Wells Fargo study 1, 83 percent of people are more likely to donate food this season if they could do it at a convenient location in their local community. Deploying approximately 5,900 retail banking branch locations and 268,000 team members, the program encourages customers, communities and team members to give non-perishable food at its branches, donate money to United Way and volunteer with hunger-related organizations. The program launches on “Giving Tuesday” and runs through the end of the year.
The Wells Fargo study also showed other trends in attitudes toward giving, including:
- 55 percent of Americans say they believe donating during the holidays is more important than at other times of the year.
- More than three out of four Americans (77 percent) throw out non-perishable food they buy – which a food bank could use, and people could benefit from.
- A third of Americans (33 percent) say they don’t have a convenient drop-off location for their charitable donations.
“At Wells Fargo, our commitment to building better communities starts with providing the millions of underserved people and families in our country with access to basic needs such as stable housing, food on the table, steady employment, education – and ultimately improved well-being and quality of life,” said Jon Campbell, head of Wells Fargo Corporate Responsibility and Community Relations. “Thanks to our team members, customers, and United Way Worldwide, we’ll be able to make a big difference for many people in need this holiday season.”
Working with United Way
United Way Worldwide, which fights for the health, education and financial stability of every person in every community, plans to use Wells Fargo’s $5 million donation to increase the capacity of local United Ways in delivering long-term, high impact programs that will support hunger-related causes through the holidays and beyond.
“This donation from Wells Fargo will support local United Ways’ fight to address hunger in communities and provide families with vital resources to live healthier lives,” said Brian Gallagher, United Way Worldwide President and CEO. “Wells Fargo’s strong relationship with United Way is a critical part of our fight to tackle our nation’s toughest challenges and create solutions that strengthen the quality of life for individuals and families.”
Leveraging the Wells Fargo branch network
As part of Wells Fargo’s Holiday Food Bank, the company will collect food in donation bins at approximately 5,900 retail banking branches and will deploy Mobile Food Banks to 17 cities in the U.S. to collect food Nov. 28 – Dec. 30. The Mobile “Pop-up” Food Bank will collect non-perishable food donations, raise awareness of hunger issues and provide information on how to help families in need this holiday season.
Pop-up locations include New York City; Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; Charlotte, N.C.; Atlanta; Minneapolis; Des Moines, Iowa; St. Louis; Dallas; Denver; Salt Lake City; Las Vegas; Phoenix; Los Angeles; San Diego; San Francisco; and Portland, Ore. For a full schedule, please visit www.wellsfargo.com/foodbank.
Team member involvement
The company has committed to volunteering 5,000 hours during the campaign and encourages Wells Fargo team members to support food-based nonprofit organizations in their local communities throughout the holidays. Volunteering is a cornerstone of Wells Fargo’s culture, with team members actively involved in local volunteer chapters that organize events throughout the U.S. The company offers eligible team members 16 hours of paid community service time annually.
1 Study attribution: The data points referenced in this report come from a study commissioned by Wells Fargo, produced by research firm Edelman Intelligence and conducted as an online survey of 1,070 nationally representative U.S. adults ages 18+. Interviewing took place from Nov. 7-13, 2017. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent.
About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.9 trillion in assets. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 8,400 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 42 countries and territories to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 268,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 25 on Fortune’s 2017 rankings of America’s largest corporations. The Chronicle of Philanthropy ranked Wells Fargo No. 3 on its most recent list of the top corporate cash philanthropists. In 2016, Wells Fargo donated $281.3 million to 14,900 nonprofits and Wells Fargo team members volunteered 1.73 million hours with 50,000 nonprofits. Wells Fargo’s corporate social responsibility efforts are focused on three priorities: economic empowerment in underserved communities, environmental sustainability, and advancing diversity and social inclusion. News, insights and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories.