CaribPR Wire

TORONTO, Jan. 22 /PRNewswire/ – RBC today announced that the RBC Blue Water Project will commit $1 million to support the efforts of ONE DROP and Oxfam to provide access to water and sanitation to the people of Haiti and rebuild small water and sanitation infrastructure in the country.

“The outpouring of support by citizens, governments and companies worldwide to help immediate relief efforts in Haiti has been overwhelming,” said Gordon M. Nixon, president and CEO, RBC. “But we know that the people of Haiti will need our support for years to come, as the need for emergency relief subsides, and the priorities for longer-term solutions become more clear in the months and years ahead. In anticipation of the massive work ahead, the RBC Blue Water Project will support the efforts of ONE DROP and its partner Oxfam-Quebec in Haiti to fund programs to mitigate the tremendous water and sanitation challenges faced by the country.”

As part of an ambitious project developed by Oxfam-Quebec, ONE DROP’s Project Haiti will be carried out over a three-year period. Its objective will be to provide sustainable access to water and sanitation, restore small hydraulic and sanitation infrastructures and, through the arts, raise the awareness of thousands of Haitians on the importance of managing water soundly. These are all essential conditions for building a better tomorrow for future generations. ONE DROP and Oxfam-Quebec are currently working out the details of the project.

RBC is a founding corporate partner of ONE DROP, with a pledge of $10 million over 10 years to help fund on-the-ground water projects and awareness programs as needed around the world. Funding for this Haitian project will come from that commitment. RBC has also funded a ONE DROP watershed protection and conservation project in Honduras totalling $1.5 million.

 RBC also announced that on Friday, January 22, 2010, more than 250 RBC employees in Winnipeg, Mississauga, Montreal and Moncton will volunteer their time to handle phone donations to support the Canada for Haiti event. This signature Canadian event is a one hour live national broadcast with CTV, CBC and Global, on Friday, January 22, 2010, airing at 7:00 p.m. EST. RBC employees will continue to accept Canadian phone donations during the broadcast of the “Hope for Haiti Now” benefit organized by George Clooney, airing on these networks.

The RBC Blue Water Project was launched in 2007 to help foster a culture of water stewardship in Canada and abroad, and includes a 10-year, $50 million philanthropic commitment to programs supporting watershed protection and access to clean drinking water. Since 2007, RBC has committed more than $20.48 million in single and multi-year grants to 155 organizations, including ONE DROP.

RBC is recognized among the world’s financial, social and environmental leaders and is included on the Dow Jones World and North American Sustainability Indices, the Jantzi Social Index, the FTSE4Good Index and the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations ranking. In 2009, RBC contributed more than $105 million to community causes worldwide, through donations of more than $52.6 million, and an additional $52.5 million in sponsorship of community events and national organizations.

For more, visit rbc.com/bluewater.