2. From Our Chairman
It’s with tremendous pride and appreciation
for our 35,000 National City employees that
I present our second annual corporate-wide
Volunteer Report.
In the communities we serve, National City
employees partner with numerous nonprofit
organizations that rely on volunteers to fulfill their
missions. Reflected in this report are the nearly
300,000 hours that National City employees have
donated to help make a real difference in the
lives of so many communities throughout our
seven state footprint. Not included in this report
is the additional personal time our employees
contribute to community organizations – as board
members and board officers, soccer coaches and
troop leaders, school and church volunteers. This
commitment, I’m proud to say, is a reflection of
the National City culture and the people we hire
to fulfill our brand promise: At National City, we
care about doing what’s right for our customers.
We also care about doing what’s right for our
communities. Please join me in saluting the
individuals and initiatives that exemplify this
National City community spirit. Together we’re
invigorating the places we all call home.
David A. Daberko
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Please join
in
and initiatives
the National
2001
194,638
2002
218,908
2003
239,751
2004
271,245
2005
305,000*
The number of National City employees who volunteer
increases each year along with their number of volunteer
hours. In 2004, employees contributed the equivalent of
34,000 work days to their charities of choice.
*Projection, based on the 166,000 employee hours reported
through the first half of the year.
Volunteer Hours
one
3. Tour of Hope
me
saluting the individuals
that exemplify
City
community spirit.
While National City encourages and supports employee volunteerism
corporate-wide, our regions are encouraged to champion the causes and
organizations that are meaningful in the communities they serve. And while
everyone gravitates to causes that positively impact the areas of health,
education, housing and community leadership, one issue stands out as a
common denominator – finding a cure for breast cancer.
In recognition of our employees’ commitment to beating breast cancer,
National City has established a partnership with the National Breast Cancer
Foundation. When customers open a Diamond Edition®
Visa®
CheckCard or
Diamond Edition®
Visa Credit Card, National City makes a donation to the
foundation. Every time the cards are used, the foundation also receives a per-
centage of the purchase. Thanks to our customers, National City has contributed
$400,000 to breast cancer awareness, prevention and research, which was
distributed in a national Tour of Hope to six leading healthcare institutions.
National City employees have raised even more through events like these:
Nearly 400 Cleveland employees participated in the Race for the Cure,
the signature fund-raising event of the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer
Foundation. The $8,000 our employees raised was matched and enhanced
by National City, which contributed a total of $23,000 to the foundation’s
Northeast Ohio affiliate.
The Detroit-area Race for the Cure attracted 220 employee volunteers
whose $5,000 collective contribution helped the local Komen foundation raise
a record $1.4 million.
In Louisville, 200 employees participated in the Making Strides Against
Breast Cancer walk, raising $30,000 for the American Cancer Society.
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4. National City employees have raised tens of thousands of dollars for medical
research by pledging, walking and racing in dozens of events that will hopefully
lead to cures for cancer, heart disease, birth defects, multiple sclerosis and diabetes.
Through innovative programs such as Empty Bowls in Western Pennsylvania,
Jack Frost in Columbus and Privilege First Club Movies in St. Louis, they also
find it in their hearts to address their community’s immediate health needs, such
as food and warm clothing.
In the Spotlight
Under the leadership of Pendleton, Indiana, Branch Manager
Tami Miller, the branch’s four employees purchased and distributed
80 winter coats and 60 pairs of shoes for children attending three local
elementary schools, many of whom had been sharing coats during recess.
By approaching Alltrack, a railroad contractor that donated $2,000, asking
retail customers to donate their change when cashing their paychecks, and
appealing to the local Kohl’s and Shoe Carnival stores for discount prices,
the branch raised $5,800, enough to also provide new clothing and toys
for three families with eight children at Christmastime.
In Louisville, Kentucky, and Southern Indiana, more than 30 National
City employees volunteer on Fridays to pack backpacks of food so that
elementary school children who participate in federal lunch programs and
their families can be nourished over the weekend as well.
National City employees in Missouri have joined the Ronald
McDonald House to make life easier for the parents of children who
are undergoing treatment at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. When nine
Marketing Department employees recently hosted a supper at the house,
they not only purchased food for 60 people, but also barbecued, served
and cleaned up after the meal.
That’s whatthree
5. Health
Volunteers Who Excel
Lisa Reichert
When Lisa Reichert agreed to be part of a Relay for Life team to help raise
funds for the American Cancer Society nine years ago, she didn’t envision how
much her participation would eventually mean to her and the countless cancer
survivors she helps. Today, Lisa is a relentless volunteer for not just one Relay
for Life event, the Cancer Society’s signature 24-hour fund-raising marathon,
but two, in Ohio’s Wayne and Holmes Counties.
Over the years Lisa has served the relays in many capacities, from team captain
to entertainment chair. She’s walked for miles, decorated tents, signed up
sponsors, arranged for dumpsters, hired DJs, organized midnight snack contests.
Four years ago, as branch manager of the Millersburg office, she introduced
the event to National City. While Lisa’s colleagues, Gary Sands and Dawna
Martell, co-captained the National City team and raised more than $13,000
for the 2005 Wayne County relay, Lisa handled logistics for the overall events.
Together, the relays attracted 12,000 volunteers and supporters who generated
$400,000 for cancer prevention, outreach and research locally and nationally.
Next year, she will co-chair the event in Wayne County.
Originally Lisa became involved in the relay to support friends who had cancer.
Now part of her involvement is rooted in personal experience. Diagnosed
with thyroid cancer in 2002, which was effectively treated through surgery,
Lisa is a survivor.
“I can still empathize with people who go through vigorous treatments, and
by continuing to do the event to raise awareness and raise funds, I can help
provide more treatment options for those with more severe cancers,” says Lisa.
“We’ve come so far already, we can only hope that there are a cure and vaccine
in the future. That’s what keeps me going.”
“We’ve come
so far already...
keeps me going.” four
6. Housing
Hundreds of National City team members across our markets rally each year on the
last Saturday in April in support of National Rebuilding Day, a concentrated effort
to help financially disadvantaged elderly homeowners protect the investment they’ve
made in their homes.
In the Spotlight
For the 12th consecutive year, our Peoria, Illinois, employees went
all-out for a homeowner on National Rebuilding Day, a wheelchair-bound
widow who truly needed helping hands. Thirty-two National City employees
and family members completed a thorough spring cleaning for Mrs. Black,
including repairing her window screens, painting the porch and fence,
weeding and landscaping the yard and installing a new kitchen vent.
In Indianapolis, 20 National City employees championed the sprucing
up of four homes and a church on one block of Minnesota Street in the
Fountain Square neighborhood. In addition to serving as block captain
and overseeing the work of 50 volunteers from other companies, our
Indianapolis employees took charge at the church, where they not only
made repairs for the parishioners, but also improved the curb appeal for
the greater community.
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7. Volunteers Who Excel
Kathi Moore
It’s Kathi Moore’s job as the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) officer
for National City in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, to help economically challenged
families buy homes. But it’s not in Kathi’s job description to prepare a home-
cooked dinner every Sunday for nine months for a family of nine children
whose single-parent mother, Julie, was terminally ill, or to arrange for pizza
delivery when she couldn’t make the meal herself. These are things that Kathi –
nicknamed Angel by Julie – does on her own.
“I’m the one who’s been blessed,” says Kathi, who, as a member of her
Habitat for Humanity chapter’s Family Selection and Nurturing Committee,
was assigned to nurture Julie in the process of becoming a homeowner.
During the one-and-a-half years it took to build Julie’s home, Kathi and Julie
talked frequently about everything from budgeting to choosing carpet and
counter tops. With help from Kathi, Julie opened an Individual Development
Account (IDA) and saved $1,000 for a down payment that qualified for a
7.5:1 government match. When Julie’s house was finished, she had $26,000
in savings and grants to put down on her new 1,000-square-foot six-bedroom,
two-bath home – including a $5,000 award from a Federal Home Loan Bank
program that Kathi helps all Habitat homeowners access.
But Kathi’s relationship with Julie didn’t stop when Julie and her family
moved in three years ago. Recently, Julie was diagnosed with cancer, and when
Medicaid didn’t cover Julie’s pain medication costs of $850 per month, Habitat
raised funds to cover her mortgage payment so she could afford the medicine.
“I’d come into work to find a check or a gas card on my desk from a fellow
employee,” says Kathi. “The whole community pulled together.”
And because Julie, who believed she was put on the Earth to be a good
mom, didn’t have life insurance, Habitat partnered with an insurance company
to establish a policy now known as “Julie’s insurance clause” that will provide
insurance for all habitat families in the future.
Kathi also helped Julie complete a will so that Julie’s 19-year-old daughter can
stay in the home and keep the family together. The story has a happy ending.
In addition to leaving a dream home for her children, Julie helped her friend
Denise to also buy a Habitat house and introduced her to Kathi, her nurturer.
Now Denise, a single mom with three daughters, has an Angel, too.
“I’m the one who’s been blessed.” six
Kathi Moore (right)
with her grandson
Trevor Embrey, Habitat
homeowner Denise
Serrano and her
daughters Katie and
Erica.
8. Education
More than 400 National City employees volunteer as reading tutors, chaperones
and fundraisers in support of Ohio’s statewide Partners in Education program in
Columbus alone. They make a difference. At the Ohio Avenue Elementary School,
which our Columbus employees adopted, the Kindergarten Reading/Language
Arts Assessment scores increased nearly 40 percent in one year.
Students in Kentucky’s Jefferson County Public Schools are showing similar
test results, thanks to the Every 1 Reads program and 89 dedicated employee tutors
in Louisville who spend two hours each week with a student.
Some 1,500 students at five adopted elementary schools near our Strongsville
Technology and Brecksville Operations Centers outside of Cleveland were equipped
for success with more than $5,000 in pencils, glue sticks, crayons, notebooks and
other school supplies donated by employees during a Back to School drive.
These and numerous other examples across our markets reflect the commitment
of National City employees to preparing tomorrow’s community leaders to become
financially responsible adults.
In the Spotlight
Under the direction of Steve Chau, senior credit analyst, National
City employee volunteers worked closely with Junior Achievement to
plan and teach an inspirational full-day financial education program to
270 Whittier Elementary School students in Peoria.
Nearly 300 employees organized by 26 employee coordinators under
the leadership of event chairperson Angela Smith, group manager of
Information Technology Support in Columbus, raised nearly $40,000 for
the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). Their year-long commitment to
the annual UNCF walk-a-thon kicks off with a National City-sponsored art
competition for high school juniors. The winner’s design earns a college
scholarship and visibility on the annual event t-shirt.
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9. Volunteers Who Excel
Richard Bedoya
“My ultimate goal is to educate the Hispanic population so that no matter
which financial institution they choose, they’ll understand how bankers
can help them get ahead – and they’ll trust us,” says Rich Bedoya, a mortgage
loan officer for National City Mortgage, who teaches a financial literacy course
for Cleveland’s Spanish American Committee every other week.
“It’s not part of my job,” he explains. “I make it part of my job.”
Rich’s volunteer spirit is inherited from his grandparents, who lent a helping
hand to everyone who needed it, regardless of their background. Now it’s
his time to give back, he says.
As a National City branch manager several years ago, Rich, who is fluent
in Spanish, developed a relationship with Cleveland’s Spanish Business
Association that led to the creation of a program of banking benefits and
educational sessions for the association’s members. Gradually he became the
banker that Hispanic business owners trusted. Soon, his expertise was in
demand at events such as the Cleveland Round Table, a bi-annual convencion
that brings together the city’s Hispanic community leaders.
Today, Rich’s volunteer time is committed to the Spanish American Committee’s
Freddie Mac Credit Smart financial literacy program. Twice each month he
provides participants with the “real life” perspective of what they learned in
the class.
“You start by giving them hope,” he explains. Rich tells his “students” that
to fulfill their dream of owning a home, they need a checking account, and
to open a checking account, they need to improve their credit history. He
also helps them understand the financial obligations of homeownership that
go beyond the mortgage payment. The payback, he says, is the excitement
of someone with his first bank card. “They can see the light at the end of
the tunnel.”
“They can see the light
at the end of the tunnel.” eight
10. My
Community Leadership
National City believes that corporations like ours are obligated not only to give
back to the communities we serve, but also to lead by example. Our employees
provide the passion. When floods from Hurricane Ivan ravaged portions of Western
Pennsylvania in September 2004, National City Bank of Pennsylvania employees
spontaneously rolled up their sleeves. In one example, the staff of National City
Home Loan Services sponsored a drive to collect food and necessities for flood
victims, and also sacrificed an award trip and a holiday party in order to donate
the $83,000 they saved to the cause.
In St. Louis, National City employees closed early on one afternoon in August
so they could donate their time. Teams of three to 25 employees dispersed through-
out the community, providing valuable labor to 24 organizations such as Crisis
Nurseries, Emmaus Homes, which helps people with development disabilities, and
Lydia’s House, a haven for domestic abuse victims.
Similar Community Appreciation Days were held in Chicagoland, where 300
employees donated an afternoon’s labor to 33 organizations, and in Peoria, where
100 employees focused on five charities. Many other markets participated in local
United Way Day of Caring events.
In the Spotlight
In Cincinnati, Ohio, National City set an example by sponsoring a
free admission day to the new National Underground Railroad Freedom
Center, where a “sold out” crowd of 5,500 area residents who otherwise
may not have been able to afford the museum’s general admission reflected
on the preciousness of liberty. To make the day possible, 60 employee
volunteers supplemented the museum staff.
In Michigan, 50 National City employees led the charge for the
fourth consecutive year to cleanup the 27 miles of Woodward Avenue,
a heavily traveled route that parallels the Detroit-to-Pontiac riverfront.
Sponsored annually by the Woodward Avenue Action Association to
improve the regional business environment, this year’s cleanup was timed
to prepare Detroit for the 2005 baseball All-Star game and the 2006
football Super Bowl.
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11. “Kids are
our future leaders...
goal is to keep them on track.”
Volunteers Who Excel
Susie Estridge
Susie Estridge can’t say no, especially to causes that help kids.
Every Monday morning for the past three years, Susie has tutored second
graders who need help improving their reading and vocabulary skills as part
of a mentoring program called Helping One Student to Succeed, or HOSTS.
To help recruit additional HOSTS mentors, she has volunteered to speak
to several organizations about the importance of mentoring.
She’s serving as the chair of a committee that is raising $9 million for a capital
campaign, “Give Hope a Home,” that will renovate Lutherwood, a residential
treatment center for children who are recovering from the effects of abuse,
neglect or abandonment.
On behalf of the Indy Daybreaker’s Kiwanis, she raises money for kids’ camps,
health care and after-school activities.
She is a board member of Dress for Success, an organization that helps
economically disadvantaged women acquire jobs, retain their new positions
and succeed in the workplace.
Susie is also involved in annual fundraising events that recently netted more
than $600,000 for the Indianapolis Zoo and Ronald McDonald House.
In addition, as a member of the annual Fire & Ice Ball and Arthritis Walk
planning committees, Susie has helped to raise $90,000 for the Arthritis
Foundation. Her relationship with the foundation began when it was one of
her corporate banking clients. Once introduced to the mission, Susie became
passionately involved voluntarily. Nearly 300,000 U.S. children suffer from
arthritis, she explains.
“Kids are our future leaders and many are in unfortunate circumstances,” says
Susie, vice president and small business banking officer for National City. “My
goal is to keep these kids on track and make a difference in our community.”
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