BBVA Volunteering, for a greener and more inclusive future
More than 1,200 BBVA employees have taken part in activities related to financial inclusion and literacy and environmental protection in Argentina, with the initiatives having taken place in various communities across the country.
2023 happened to be a very active year in terms of sustainability for BBVA in Argentina. Through the BBVA Volunteering program, the bank’s employees carried out 39 actions in different parts of the country, in partnership with various civil society organizations and local councils. In total, upward of 1,200 employees took part in the various activities, supporting more than 15,000 people directly and their communities.
The actions targeted financial literacy, entrepreneurship, environmental care, and support for municipal canteens, foundations and schools, through workshops, donations and other forms of active participation.
Within this broad framework, and as a new feature under the revised Plan, an on-demand volunteering program was unveiled during the second half of the year for the various areas of BBVA operating in Argentina. Through this initiative, each team was able to choose from a series of actions to take part in, while enjoying a day away from their usual workspace.
BBVA employees in a volunteer activity.
Focus on inclusive growth and climate action
Among other actions targeting financial literacy in 2023, the volunteers got to work in training high school students in personal finance, alongside Junior Achievement; took part in the Red Egresados Program of Fundación Cimientos; teamed up with the Mujeres 2000 civil society association to promote women entrepreneurs and recognize their efforts; and offered financial literacy workshops for neighborhood clubs and social organizations in different parts of the country, such as Posadas, San Luis and Mendoza, this time alongside Fundación River.
In addition, the group of volunteers supported the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) in the Emprende +55 program, which offers financial literacy tools to those nearing retirement to help them get their own business ventures off the ground.
BBVA employees in an activity with social purposes.
As for the activities carried out to protect the environment and combat climate change, BBVA employees teamed up with Cascos Verdes in planting trees at the Ecological Reserve of Costanera Sur, cleaning the shoreline along the Río de la Plata estuary, planting vegetable gardens at schools, and carrying out educational volunteering activities.
Together with Sumando Energías, BBVA volunteers were also involved in assembling the solar collectors to bring hot water to families in vulnerable neighborhoods and elsewhere they provided valuable support to the hydroponic nursery workshop of Fundación Reciduca.
This long list of actions also featured numerous activities to promote inclusion. Among them, BBVA Volunteering spent a day helping to renovate the Mano Amiga Santa María de Fátima School, in the province of Buenos Aires. They also took part in the toy assembly workshop that Fundación Sí delivers at canteens to coincide with Children’s Day and Christmas, and in the cooking workshop that the same foundation relies on to deliver food to homeless people.
They also visited the Food Bank on two sorting days, where they helped sort and package up the donations that the Food Bank receives and promptly delivers to soup kitchens and neighborhood organizations.
Last but not least, to celebrate the holidays, both the central areas and the BBVA branch network in Argentina created Christmas hampers to be handed out to partnered organizations, including soup kitchens, foundations and numerous families living in vulnerable communities.