Dec 31: Vancity Donates $25,000 to Oxfam Canada for Tsunami Relief

Vancouver, December 31, 2004 – On behalf of its members and employees, the Vancity Group of Companies (including Citizens Bank of Canada) is donating $25,000 to Oxfam Canada to support the tsunami relief effort – and has pledged a further $75,000 to match staff and member donations.

The Vancity Group will match donations dollar for dollar up to $75,000 for Vancity members or staff making donations to Oxfam through our 41 branches and our Phone Banking 604-877-7000 OR 1-888-VANCITY (826-2489), and for Citizens Bank members making donations through www.citizensbank.ca.

“Our members and employees have been eager to support the relief effort,” says Vancity Chair and Citizens Bank Director Elain Duvall. “This way, we can maximize the impact of their contribution.”

Our thoughts and prayers are with those whose lives have been touched by this terrible tragedy.

"Vancity's generosity will save lives," said Rieky Stuart, executive director of Oxfam Canada. "The money will go straight toward the purchase of supplies for clean water and sanitation in the most hard-hit communities of Sri Lanka and Indonesia."

Founded in 1963, Oxfam Canada is a non-profit international development organization that supports community programs in food security, health, nutrition and democratic development with an emphasis on working with women.

On December 29, Oxfam sent its first flight of 27 tonnes of emergency equipment to Sri Lanka and Indonesia, where $250,000 worth of water and sanitation equipment will be used to prevent the spread of disease. The equipment will provide drinking water for 175,000 people and will supplement the distribution of family survival kits and mobile water units underway since Boxing Day.

The Vancity Group of Companies already has an affiliation with Oxfam, through Citizens Bank’s Oxfam VISA card. Every time an Oxfam VISA cardholder uses their card to make a purchase, Citizens Bank donates 10 cents to Oxfam Canada. Citizens Bank also donates $20 to Oxfam with the approval of each new Oxfam VISA application.

For more information on Oxfam's relief activities, visit www.oxfam.ca.

Oxfam media contact: Mark Fried, 613-850-9723.

Vancity is Canada’s largest credit union, with $9.3 billion in assets, 305,000 members, and 41 branches throughout Greater Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and Victoria. Vancity was chosen as the best place to work in Canada for 2005 by Maclean’s Magazine as part of its annual Canada’s Top 100 Employers issue. Vancity owns Citizens Bank of Canada, serving members across the country by telephone, ATM, and the Internet. Both Vancity and Citizens Bank are guided by a commitment to corporate social responsibility, and to improve the quality of life in the communities where we live and work.