- More than 31 million Euro have been donated to non-profit organizations over 10 years
- More than 3500 projects have been supported by the donations collected from Group employees over 10 years
- In 2012, 3,7 million Euro were raised in support of 411 projects
The Gift Matching Program, the UniCredit Foundation initiative which matches the donations made to non-profit organizations by the bank's employees, for up to the double of the original figure, has celebrated its tenth anniversary with an award ceremony in Vienna.
In a decade-long activity, the program has helped to finance more than 3,500 projects supported by non-profit organizations across Europe, by collecting donations made by employees and the supplementary contribution made by UniCredit Foundation, for an overall sum totaling more than 31 million Euro.
The 2012 edition of the Gift Matching Program saw the participation of 19 countries and the engagement of more than 13,000 employees, which allowed to raise around 3.7 million Euro and support 411 non-profit organizations. UniCredit Foundation made an additional contribution to the sum raised for each of the best 19 projects awarded - one per country - up to a maximum of 5,000 Euro, which adds to the traditional contribution "matching" the employees' donations. Thanks to the dedication of the employees of the awarded projects, further benefit were then brought to the non-profit organizations supported by the program.
The Award ceremony of the tenth edition took place a few days ago at the Bank Austria Kunstforum in Vienna, and was chaired by the CEO of UniCredit, Federico Ghizzoni, with the participation of the Head of the CEE Division, Gianni Franco Papa, and, the Chairman of UniCredit Foundation, Maurizio Carrara.
Federico Ghizzoni, CEO of UniCredit, said: "I would like to thank all the people at UniCredit for the growing commitment and ongoing dedication that they have shown from the very start. The energy and the know-how that our employees have devoted to community interests has allowed us to translate the sense of solidarity and inclusiveness that has always characterized the Group into concrete action".
Maurizio Carrara, Chairman of UniCredit Foundation, added: "One of UniCredit Foundation's highest priorities is to build upon the extraordinary voluntary effort coming from so many UniCredit employees, in all the countries in which we are present. The Gift Matching Program runs side by side with other important initiatives, such as Your Choice, Your Project, all designed to support the integral role played by UniCredit employees. The flourishing enthusiasm and willingness shown by our colleagues proves that we are on the right track".
The tenth edition in numbers:
- 411 projects supported by 13,500 employees in 19 countries.
- 1,870,000 Euro collected from employees, which, thanks to the UniCredit Foundation 100% matching donation policy, provided a total of more than 3,700,000 Euro to finance projects.
Below is the list of employees who received awards:
- Austria: Michael Resch for support given to "FALTA - Österreichische Hilfsprojekte für Menschen in Not";
- Bosnia and Herzegovina: Dario Slišković (award collected by Selma Ridanovic) for support given to "The Mother's Village/Majčino selo, Međugorje";
- Bulgaria: Ekaterina Ancheva for support given to the "Bulgarian Charity Aid Foundation";
- Croatia: Krešimir Ćurlin for support given to "Mary's Meals";
- Estonia: Dace Straume for support given to "The Youth Homeplace NGO";
- Germany: Steffen Welz for support given to "Christliche Drogenarbeit e.V.";
- Kazakhstan: Alua Satybaldiyeva for support given to "Shelter for children Kovcheg";
- Italy: Michele Betetto for support given to "Il castello dei sorrisi";
- Latvia: Dace Straume for support given to "Riga Children's Hospital Foundation"
- Lithuania: Dace Straume for support given to the "Public association of Oncohematologic children "Paguoda" for Children's Hospital";
- Romania: Raluca Bogos Mironescu for support given to the "Bethany Foundation";
- Poland: Agnieszka Zygo for support given to "Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy";
- Czech Republic: Karel Nováček for support given to the "St. Terezie Refuge Home";
- Russia: Elena Semeykina for support given to the Dysimmunity Children Relief Fund "Podsolnukh;
- Serbia: Jasna Uzelac Braunovic for support given to "Mali Veliki Ljudi";
- Slovakia: Jana Voberová for support given to "Well Giving, o. z.";
- Slovenia: Nuša Kanižaj for support given to "Zveza prijateljev mladine Ljubljana Moste Polje";
- Turkey: Nurcan Erhan for support given to "Losev - Foundation For Children With Leukemia".
- Hungary: Jozsef Sipos for support given to "The Hungarian Foundation for Paediatric Emergency Care";
Milan/Vienna, 13 March 2013.