Operation Santa Claus: Credit Suisse charity drive pushes ahead despite Covid-19 challenges
- Banking giant has held workshops and fundraising events to allow engagement between staff and beneficiaries in spite of social-distancing constraints
- Proceeds of Thursday’s office party will go to Operation Santa Claus, an annual fundraising drive co-organised by the Post and RTHK
The coronavirus pandemic may have scaled down Credit Suisse’s charity drive over the past two years, but that has not stopped the banking giant’s employees from coming up with ways to reach out to the needy in Hong Kong.
Fundraising events remained a priority on the bank’s agenda because staff “expected” and “demanded” philanthropy of their employer, said Liza Green, head of Credit Suisse’s corporate citizenship and foundations in the Asia Pacific.
“We miss a lot of the engagement with the charities: what really engages our staff is hearing the beneficiaries’ stories and meeting them in person,” she added. “In the past [two years], when we couldn’t do that in person, we still tried to involve our staff in certain activities.”
Credit Suisse sponsored a workshop on November 27 by the Hong Kong Magician for two of the 18 beneficiaries under Operation Santa Claus – a fundraising initiative co-organised by the South China Morning Post and public broadcaster RTHK since 1988.
The bank is also hosting an office-wide party cum fundraising event on Thursday, with all the funds raised going to OSC. Staff will also receive crackers from The Zubin Foundation – another one of OSC’s beneficiaries this year – and soap from Soap Cycling.
“This way, our staff still get to learn a bit about these charities,” Green said.
Carsten Stoehr, CEO of Credit Suisse, Greater China, applauded his charity committee’s efforts in the face of constraints brought about by social-distancing regulations.
“[The staff] all have busy day jobs, but they feel a bigger desire to come up with ways to influence and help people because it’s so much harder,” he said.
Stoehr cited the example of his wealth management team, whose members packed and donated 550 fortune bags to a charity serving the homeless in Hong Kong over Lunar New Year and the Mid-Autumn Festival. They also made monetary contributions.
The bank also launched the Credit Suisse APAC Foundation in February 2020 – its first regional philanthropic foundation that makes donations according to its financial performance. To date, the group has helped more than 30,000 beneficiaries across 18 organisations in 14 countries.
The combination of regional trustees and local staff volunteers had helped the foundation carry out its philanthropic activities in a “much more scalable and impactful manner”, Stoehr said.
“We are focused on building inclusive societies, financial inclusion, financial literacy, developing future skills in young people, education and empowerment,” he said, adding that the company would adopt a variety of approaches to implementing initiatives throughout the region.
Activities to that effect included a series of events held across the region in May, whereby 600 staff organised workshops on mock interviews, English lessons and other professional knowledge for beneficiaries from the bank’s charity partners.
Locally, the foundation partners with Generation Hong Kong – an organisation that helps the unemployed find jobs. In one of their programmes last year, the bank provided training on interviewing skills for 10 neurodiverse participants, who have since found employment. Green said the scheme would include more people next year.
Stoehr and Green said they hoped for a return of in-person events so they could see the beneficiaries’ smiling faces.
“When you see, even if it’s for a short moment, the joy in a child or a family’s face [even though] they’re living in challenging environments … The hope and human engagement that you’re able to give, that’s really impactful,” Stoehr said.
