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Discovers Programs Discover Financial Services believes in being a good corporate citizen particularly in communities where our employees live and work. We are committed to supporting the many volunteer efforts of employees, and have a special interest in supporting educational initiatives. Our "You Care, We Share" Program supports this commitment and encompasses corporate giving, volunteerism and employee giving through two avenues; the Volunteer Recognition Program and the Employee Giving Program. In 2009, the company and employees donated millions of dollars and provided more than 45,000 hours of volunteer time to more than 2,000 nonprofit organizations. Volunteer Recognition Program Volunteerism is a core value at Discover. The company supports and encourages employees to be involved in their communities. Last year, nearly 50% of all of our employees supported this value by participating in our two signature programs, the Volunteer Recognition Program and Discover Cares Month. The Volunteer Recognition Program rewards employees' volunteer efforts with more than 140 donations to local and national organizations reaching organizations like Read Across America, local YMCA's and Boys & Girls Scout troops across the country. Nearly 40% percent of our workforce participated in our second annual Discover Cares Month in September benefiting more than 55 organizations nationwide contributing more than 15,000 thousand volunteerism hours on projects including beautification projects and mentoring at local schools, building playgrounds, donating to local food pantries and building a home for Habitat for Humanity. We are looking forward to our third Discover Cares Month this coming September and seeing thousands of our orange volunteerism shirts in our communities. Throughout the fall, more than 1,000 employees proudly engaged friends and family members to participate in Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Walks in each of our locations raising more than $25,000. In addition to support of local walks as well as various drives to support local organizations, some of the other 2009 program highlights include: Delaware Bank at School Special Olympics Head Start CAP program support Houston Rebuilding Together Houston Elves & More Dime Derby and Bike Assembly New Albany Columbus Reads Program Columbus Speech and Hearing support Phoenix 10th Habitat for Humanity Home delivered Phoenix Water Drive MDA Telethon Riverwoods Operation Homefront Care Packaging Event Chicago Department of Health and Human Services Care Packaging Event Northern Illinois Food Bank Utah Discover Boys and Girls Club Afterschool Program Habitat for Humanity Ronald McDonald House Charities Employee Giving Program Another way employees helped those in need was through the Employee Giving Program. The Program provided an easy way for employees to make donations to their' charity of choice. Half of all of our employees participated by giving generously to local and national nonprofit organizations and Discover matched a portion of the donations to further their efforts to make our communities a better place to live. Discover Scholarship Program Our interest in educational initiatives is anchored by the Discover Scholarship Program, now in its 19th year. The program awards $400,000 annually to high school juniors to support continued education and training beyond high school. Since its inception, the program has awarded nearly 6,500 students with more than $16 million to help them achieve their dream of continuing their education. Stay tuned this summer when we announce the 2010 winners on www.discoverfinancial.com In addition, our operations centers and employees supported local schools in need by providing tutoring, mentoring as well as school supplies through center donation drives. We look forward to enhancing this outreach and impacting even more students in 2010. Junior Achievement Discover is proud of its relationship with Junior Achievement (JA) as it directly ties to the company mission to support financial literacy and focus on educational initiatives. In 2009, we expanded our relationship with JA on a national level providing additional support to capstone programs in communities where we do business. In these capstone programs, known to many as JA BizTown, JA FinancePark and JA City, we incorporated a Discover Mock Debit Card program to teach children the importance of debit and its relationship to checking accounts and cash. We are proud to have donated over $200,000 in 2009 and reached over 500,000 students and their families. In addition to capstone program support, more than 200 employees taught the traditional program in classrooms nationwide to over 5,000 children in grade K - 12. Discover Success In Schools Program In 2009, Discover launched its Success in Schools Program whereby we "adopted" schools in each of our locations. We provided $40,000 in funding for each school for much needed programs and school resources and in addition, employees volunteered at schools through beautification projects, tutoring and mentoring. We are proud of the program and look forward to strengthening our relationships with the schools to deepen our impact. Through the program we partnered with seven schools and we also impact schools outside of the program with employee involvement and local support. Together with our employees' help, we are committed to making lives brighter in our communities. | |||||
