Wells Fargo Donates $63,000 to Nonprofits and Schools in Greater Los Angeles

Recognizing Positive Impact of Local Organizations

Wells Fargo recently held their annual Greater San Gabriel Community Connections Breakfast in which more than $63,000 was donated to nonprofit community organizations and schools across the eastern region of Los Angeles. The heartwarming annual event was held in Pasadena at Noor, where 63 Wells Fargo community bank leaders selected an organization to donate a $1,000 grant in unrestricted funding.
To open the event Sandy Walia, Wells Fargo Greater San Gabriel area president; David DiCristofaro, Greater Los Angeles region president; Jonathan Weedman, head of the Wells Fargo Foundation in Los Angeles; and Congresswoman Judy Chu delivered remarks.
“We are proud to continue this tradition of honoring local nonprofits and schools, because at Wells Fargo we know we can only be as strong as the communities we serve,” said Walia. “We would like to recognize the organizations that are doing important work in our communities and helping our neighbors who need it most.”
As an added bonus, this year’s event also featured the donation of a life-sized plush pony to one lucky nonprofit attendee. Congresswoman Chu randomly selected the Rosemead Rebels, the winning nonprofit, from a bowl full of the names of all 63 organizations.
“This breakfast event really is my very favorite day of the year,” said DiCristofaro. “This is the one day when we are able to say ‘thank you’ for the truly significant, and often challenging, work nonprofits and schools are doing every single day to make our communities better.”
Wells Fargo first introduced the Community Connections Breakfast program in 1999 in Los Angeles to allow team members the opportunity to select community organizations to receive an unsolicited charitable contribution. Since then, Wells Fargo regions across the country have adopted the program allowing managers nationwide to participate and reach more local organizations.
“In 2013, Wells Fargo donated more than $275 million across the country, with $29 million of that donated right here in Los Angeles and surrounding areas,” said Weedman. “In fact, because of this focus on philanthropic giving and volunteerism, Wells Fargo was recently named among the ‘top corporate philanthropists’ in the nation by The Chronicles of Philanthropy, and has been the leading corporate donor in Los Angeles for the past seven years.”

The 2014 Community Connections Breakfast grant recipients included:
A Place Called Home
ACF Western USA
Alhambra Police Department
American Cancer Society
American Red Cross San Gabriel Valley
Armenian American Nurses Association
Bellflower Unified School District
Bolton & Company
Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena
Boys and Girls Club of Long Beach
Calvary Chapel of Downey, Athletic Department
Carmelite Sisters
Clothes the Deal
Columbia School
Community Hospital, Long Beach
Corona Avenue Elementary School
C-V Alliance, Community Values for Crescenta Valley
Dolores Mission School
Door of Hope
Drew Child Development Corporation
D’Veal Family and Youth Services
Eggleston Youth Center
El Nido Family Centers
Epic Program of Cal State L.A. Educational Participation In Communities
Five Acres
Genesis Enterprises
Grace Bible Church
Gumball Foundation
Hathaway-Sycamores
Help the Children
Homenetmen Ararat
Hope House for the Multiple-Handicapped Inc.
Huntington Library
Huntington Park Police Department
Ideal Youth
Immaculate Conception School
International Institute of Los Angeles
La Plaza de Cultura y Artes
Life Light Educational Foundation
National Assistance League
Oak Avenue Intermediate School
Olive Crest
Operation Hope
Our Lady of Perpetual Help School
Police Activities League
Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee
Pasadena Educational Foundation
Pasadena Humane Society
Pasadena Playhouse
People for People
Quality of Life Services, Inc.
Rosemary Children’s Services
Rosemead Rebels
Ruben Salazar High School
San Gabriel Valley Humane Society
San Marino High School Football Team
South Pasadena Kiwanis Club
St. Francis Medical Center Foundation
The Wall Las Memorias
UEDF Food Bank
Victory Bible Church
Villa Esperanza
YMCA West San Gabriel Valley

About Wells Fargo: Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.6 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 locations, 12,500 ATMs, and the internet (wellsfargo.com), and has offices in 36 countries to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 265,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 29 on Fortune’s 2014 rankings of America’s largest corporations. In 2013, the Company invested $275.5 million in grants to 18,500 nonprofits, and team members contributed more than 1.69 million volunteer hours around the country. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Wells Fargo perspectives and stories are also available at blogs.wellsfargo.com and at wellsfargo.com/stories.

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