Barbados Today

Health care causes got a shot in the arm recently, thanks to the efforts of Scotiabank staff members who contributed a combined $5,400 to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and the Barbados Alzheimer’s Association.

The money was raised through the work of the employee action teams at the bank’s Corporate & Commercial Banking Unit and  Centralized Retail Collection Unit.

The corporate and commercial action team raised $2,500 to go towards purchasing an oxygen saturation monitor for the NICU which they have supported for several years. The action team raised the money through various fund-raisers, including a raffle, silent auction and island safari.

Their efforts were literally doubled as the money raised was matched by Scotiabank, through its Bright Future global philanthropic programme, bringing the sum to $5,000.

The equipment will be used to monitor blood oxygen levels of the young patients in the NICU.

The Barbados Alzheimer’s Association was also a recipient of Scotiabank’s generosity, as its Make Sense Of Cents drive was topped up with 40,000 cents ($400) collected by staff of the Centralized Retail Collection Unit.

Scotiabank’s director of human resources Carol Edey lauded staff for their fund-raising efforts, noting that one of the bank’s policies was to encourage volunteerism in staff members. Each unit and branch has an employee action team that raises funds for an adopted charity.

“It’s something that we’re very dedicated to at Scotiabank,” said Edey.

“The whole concept of service is very important –– not only service to our customers, but to the wider community. We try to make it a way of life and to support staff in their volunteer initiatives. That’s why the matching funds aspect of Bright Future is so key, because it encourages staff to maximize their volunteer efforts.”