More than 200 volunteers celebrate increased play opportunities for
thousands of Chicago youth
CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Two hundred volunteers from Wells Fargo and Kidz Express joined KaBOOM!
to transform an empty site into a state-of-the-art playground in just
six hours, serving thousands of families in the South Austin community.
The new play area is located at Kidz Express, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
youth community center dedicated to improving the lives of more than 100
inner city children through academic support, peer mentoring, and
leadership development. Kidz Express collaborated with Wells Fargo and
KaBOOM! to ensure local youth have an exciting new place to play.
“Up until now, play for these kids was limited to an indoor multipurpose
room and a decrepit, old playground. Having a brand-new play area will
provide a fun and engaging outlet for communication, problem-solving,
sharing and other critical coping skills,” says Doug Low, executive
director of Kidz Express. “We’re very grateful that Wells Fargo and
KaBOOM! are helping kids put play first.”
In March, South Austin kids participated in a special event where they
designed their dream playground. That dream became a reality when
volunteers built their new play space, inspired by those designs, in
under one day.
This playground is part of a broader local effort led by Wells Fargo and
KaBOOM! to create an oasis for kids to feel valued and nurture their
potential.
“Wells Fargo is devoted to transforming the lives of Austin residents,
and this new playground is just one way in which we hope to achieve a
lasting impact on the community,” says Andrew Ruehl, community relations
senior consultant. “We want these kids to feel supported and celebrated.
They deserve a space to call their own, where kids can be kids.”
Since 2015, Wells Fargo has invested $100,000 each year in the Austin
neighborhood. In 2018, Wells Fargo doubled its investment through United
Way of Metro Chicago Neighborhood
Network Initiative, bringing our total commitment to $600,000 by
2020.
In addition, Wells Fargo Illinois team members volunteered nearly 24,000
hours and contributed nearly $963,000 to nonprofits through the
company’s internal Community Support Campaign in 2018. That same year,
Wells Fargo donated more than more than $17.1 million to more than 200
Illinois nonprofits through corporate and foundation giving.
More than 3,400 team members across 50 Wells Fargo lines of business
serve a broad range of commercial, corporate, and individual customers
in Chicagoland.
About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, community-based
financial services company with $1.9 trillion in assets. Wells Fargo’s
vision is to satisfy our customers’ financial needs and help them
succeed financially. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco,
Wells Fargo provides banking, investment and mortgage products and
services, as well as consumer and commercial finance, through 7,700
locations, more than 13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and
mobile banking, and has offices in 33 countries and territories to
support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With
approximately 262,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three
households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 26
on Fortune’s 2018 rankings of America’s largest corporations. News,
insights and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells
Fargo Stories.
Contacts
Media
LaTrina Shepherd, 312-339-0012
[email protected]
@TrinaShepherdWF
or
Hayley Anklam, 415-769-1027
[email protected]
@HayleyAnklamWF
