From planting trees in country parks to baking cakes with underprivileged children, Citic Bank International's 1,600 employees have contributed more than 10,000 hours to volunteer work, says Doreen Chan, the bank's chief executive.
Underpinned by a sustainability agenda, the bank focuses its corporate social responsibility efforts on three themes - nurturing young people to become future leaders while enhancing the quality of education for underprivileged children, building harmonious relations with the environment and caring for under-served communities.
Deeply convinced that corporate social responsibility plays an important role in achieving sustainable business success, the lender has also, for the first time, become a major donor to Operation Santa Claus.
The annual appeal jointly organised by the South China Morning Post and Radio Television Hong Kong has raised more than HK$154 million for more than 100 charities since it was launched in 1988. This year, OSC aims to collect millions more.
The money will go to important projects being run by 16 charities, helping them to carry out vital work in a time of financial turmoil.
'It is a well-run and respected fund-raising effort,' Chan said.