4k employees celebrate Citi bicentennial through community service

Citi’s 200th year coincides with its annual Global Community Day celebration, making it a meaningful occasion for its employees. Close to 800 Citi volunteers participated in the kick-off activity at the Habitat for Humanity site in Navotas city, where they participated in building activities and read aloud sessions with children.

MANILA, Philippines—Citi is celebrating its 200th anniversary through community service.

On June 16, Citi will mark 200 years of serving clients around the world.  As it approaches this milestone, the global leader in financial services is inviting its employees in more than 100 countries to celebrate the day through community service.

In the Philippines, the celebration started as early as May 26 when more than 200 Citi employees volunteered to build 200 homes in Tanza, Navotas, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity (HfH). The following weekend, another batch of 600 employees continued the work in Tanza, as well as cleaned and painted classrooms in public schools, just in time for the opening of classes.

On June 16, Citi Philippines expects to have fielded nearly 4,000 volunteers in different communities around the country – and not just to work on the 200 homes in Tanza. Volunteer activities include cleanup of beaches in Batangas, planting trees in Navotas, working with street children in Manila and Quezon City, sports clinics in Paranaque, home builds in Pampanga, assisting farmers in Davao.

“We are proud to have a strong tradition of volunteerism in the Philippines where our employees gladly serve the community by taking on causes we each believe in, whether it’s caring for the environment, empowering the less fortunate or painting a brighter future for children,” said Citi country officer Sanjiv Vohra.

Proud Citi volunteers pledge their support to build 200 homes for 200 families by the time Citi turns 200 years old this June.

These volunteer activities all form part of Global Community Day, a growing tradition in Citi that provides its hundreds of thousands of employees across the globe an opportunity to come together one day of the year and volunteer in the communities they live and work in. Now in its sixth year and usually held in October, Citi chose to observe Global Community Day several months early – to coincide with its bicentennial event.

Apart from HfH, Citi also partnered with Gawad Kalinga, Childhope Asia and Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) to create meaningful volunteer opportunities for its employees. With HfH, Citi is building 200 homes for families displaced by Typhoon Pedring, as well as planting trees and engaging young children in educational activities.

With Gawad Kalinga, Citi employees will revisit the Citi-GK Marcelo Village in Parañaque to build more homes and host sports clinics. With Childhope Asia, volunteers will spend the day with street children and, with PBSP, repaint desks and clean classrooms in Citi-adopted public schools including Tipas Elementary School (ES). Tipas ES is one of the beneficiaries of Citi Project BLUE [Buildings for Literacy, Understanding and Education], a bank-wide initiative that financed the construction of classrooms to supplement the lack of teaching facilities in communities across the country.

“On our Global Community Day, bankers become teachers for a day or basketball coaches or environmental advocates. We all gladly embrace these roles in the service of our communities,” concluded Vohra.