In-kind pledge includes printing services, materials and staff volunteers for youth financial literacy programs
LOS ANGELES, February 17, 2011– Canon Business Solutions, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging, and Operation HOPE (HOPE) today announced a partnership in support of Operation HOPE’s youth financial literacy and economic empowerment program, Banking on Our Future – which is designed, at no cost to school districts, to educate youth on the principles of sound financial management.
As part of the two-year agreement, Canon Business Solutions has committed to providing one million dollars of in-kind printing services and has pledged to recruit employees to serve as HOPE Corps volunteers. Volunteers will be trained to deliver HOPE’s award-winning youth curriculum, Banking on Our Future, to youth in underserved communities. Banking on Our Future was established by HOPE in 1996 to teach children the “language of money” as a financial literacy and economic empowerment curriculum.
“Canon Business Solutions has been instrumental in supporting our program in the Los Angeles area and beyond,” said Bill Walbrecher, president and COO, Operation HOPE. “The company’s eagerness to serve and its corporate commitment to the community are evident through the dedication of its personnel. By allowing employees to volunteer and leverage their expertise, Operation Hope can help more students become educated in financial management and we are proud to have them on board.”
“At the heart of Canon’s commitment to the communities we serve is the belief that we are building a better world for future generations. This principle is an important part of Canon’s corporate philosophy of Kyosei - respecting all people regardless of race, religion or culture and focusing on harmonious living,” said Eddie Saji, vice president of Zone Operations, Canon Business Solutions.
Banking on Our Futureis a winner of the Oprah’s Angel Network Award and the U.S. Treasury Department’s John Sherman Award for Financial Literacy Excellence. The program’s goal is to make the development and privatization of inner-city and under-served communities a top priority; serving as a bridge and facilitator between mainstream and minority communities. The objective of HOPE’s work is life-sustaining change, rooted in individual, vested interest. To date, the program has educated more than 536,000 students across the United States and South Africa.
About Canon Business Solutions, Inc.
From small/medium-size businesses to large corporate enterprises, Canon Business Solutions, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canon U.S.A., Inc., serves a broad range of organizations with a variety of document management and workflow solutions and services. Canon Business Solutions, Inc. operates from 70 offices in 40 metropolitan areas across the country. For more information on Canon Business Solutions, Inc. locations, please visit: solutions.canon.com.
About Operation HOPE, Inc.
Since its founding in 1992, Operation HOPE's mission has been to promote "silver rights" and make free enterprise and capitalism work for the underserved. The social investment banking nonprofit has provided financial literacy and economic empowerment services to more than 1.2 million people, raised more than $500 million and helped to restructure more than $360 million in sub-prime mortgages from the private sector, for a total of approximately $900 million in economic activity for the disenfranchised. Follow Operation HOPE at www.operationhope.org, www.twitter.com/operationhope,and www.facebook.com/operationhope.
About Banking on Our Future
The mission of the Banking on Our Future (BOOF) program is to execute a global delivery system for financial education for youth ages 9-18 at no cost to school districts, with a focus on urban, under-served communities. The program consists of five modules, I. Basics of Banking and Financial Services, II. Checking & Savings Accounts, III. The Power of Credit, IV. Basic Investments, and V. Dignity that are taught by volunteer HOPE Corp members who are trained to break down their knowledge of banking and credit into terms that youth can understand and utilize immediately. In addition to financial education, the students are left with a message of empowerment, a message of responsibility, and most important, a message of HOPE.