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General Mills and RBC Dain Rauscher Honored by Corporate Volunteerism Council Twin CitiesFor Immediate Release via Newsletter or E-mail Contact: Minneapolis/St. Paul (April 13, 2007) The Corporate Volunteerism Council Twin Cities (CVC) is proud to honor General Mills and RBC Dain Rauscher for their outstanding corporate volunteer programs with the presentation of CVC’s annual Leadership and Spotlight Awards. The awards were presented at the Corporate Volunteerism Council Twin Cities’ annual luncheon and awards presentation on Thursday, April 12, at the Midland Hills Country Club in St. Paul. The theme of the luncheon was the “The Road Ahead” and Rusty Gatenby, KSTP traffic and entertainment reporter, emceed the event. Keynote speaker, Aaron Hurst, president and founder, Taproot Foundation presented on emerging trends, opportunities and challenges in volunteerism. The Corporate Volunteerism Council’s Leadership Award recognizes the outstanding leadership of General Mills and their employee volunteer program. “General Mills is a great corporate citizen and its dedication to volunteerism is evident in its partnerships with nonprofits in the Twin Cities community,” said Judson M. Tharin, CVC President. The mission at General Mills is to nourish lives in their communities by addressing societal needs with breakthrough ideas, championship people and financial resources. Their strategic objectives are to support innovative organizations and programs that improve communities with a focus on youth nutrition and fitness, education, social services, and arts and culture. Everyday, employees and retirees leverage the company’s $74 million in financial contributions to the community by passionately and tirelessly volunteering in their communities. In a 2006 survey, 78 percent of employees across the country said they volunteer. General Mills’ volunteer program provides innovative community service opportunities that dovetail with their business as well as their goal of being civically engaged in the communities where they live and work. “General Mills supports volunteering not only because it’s the right thing to do and is in line with our history as a good corporate citizen, but also because General Mills believes that community service helps our employees to be better leaders in the community and on the job by helping them develop professional skills and build cohesive business teams,” said Steve Sanger, CEO, General Mills. General Mills offers employees and retirees a variety of volunteer opportunities ranging from one-on-one mentoring programs in the schools or with programs such as Big Brothers Big Sisters and Junior Achievement to ongoing partnerships with Catholic Charities, Achieve! MPLS, Perspectives Family Center or the United Negro College Fund, to leadership development opportunities in planning and executing key company programs such as the annual Food Drive, United Way Campaign, Habitat for Humanity, and the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Holiday Breakfast. Some 1,000 employees serve on non-profit boards or in significant leadership roles in community organizations and others volunteer with key General Mills grants programs such as the youth nutrition and fitness program, Champions for Healthy Kids or the Celebrating Communities of Color grant program. General Mills employees and retirees are making a difference. The recipient of the $500 CVC-TC donation is the Nellie Stone Johnson School in North Minneapolis. The Corporate Volunteerism Council’s Spotlight Award recognizes the outstanding initiative of RBC Dain Rauscher’s KID$WISH Program. “The CVC is thrilled to honor RBC Dain Rauscher,” said Tharin. “KID$WISH is a unique and innovative program that benefits hundreds of children in our community.” At RBC Dain Rauscher, they encourage employees to become involved in the community. To support this involvement and to help youth develop a personal philanthropic mindset, RBC Dain Rauscher developed a program with the University of Minnesota called Kid$wish (Kid swish). The premise of Kid$wish is that kids help other kids by achieving goals, and thus realizing the positive impact they can have in the lives of others. By creating a positive experience for the youth involved, RBC Dain Rauscher hopes to instill the sense that community involvement is fun and something they want to include in their lives. Through Kid$wish, teams of youth basketball players coached by RBC Dain Rauscher employees shot free throws at William’s Arena following a Minnesota Gopher basketball game. For each basket made, RBC Dain Rauscher made a monetary donation to a designated children’s charity. At the end of the shootout, the kids presented an oversized check to the nonprofit representatives on the court and celebrated their accomplishments with their new friends. In 2006, RBC Dain Rauscher, on behalf of the youth and employees who participated in Kid$wish, proudly contributed $10,000 to participating local kids’ charities. The Kid$wish program was so successful that they have expanded it to communities outside the Twin Cities and to other sports. In addition, RBC Dain Rauscher has renewed their partnership with the University of Minnesota to hold Kid$wish events at local games, further increasing their contributions to the local nonprofit community and instilling philanthropic values in more local youth. The recipient of the $500 CVC-TC donation is the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery. For more information about Corporate Volunteerism Council-Twin Cities, visit www.cvctc.org. The Corporate Volunteerism Council-Twin Cities (CVC) is a professional organization consisting primarily of corporate members and also includes associate nonprofit members – all of which promote volunteerism throughout the community. CVC Twin Cities advocates, supports, and grows workplace volunteerism to improve our community. About RBC Dain Rauscher ### |
