BofA and the Yankees Partner to Support Our Troops

Together with the New York Yankees and ServiceNation: Mission Serve, Bank of America and Yankees employees along with New York Yankees Manager Joe Girardi, veterans and cadets volunteered to assemble 5,000 USO Big Apple Comfort Packs on Veterans Day at Yankee Stadium’s Great Hall. The USO of Metropolitan New York distributed the packs to deploying troops and those serving in Afghanistan during the holiday season. Employees spent hours assembling comfort packs, which included various items like, snacks, socks, games, energy drinks and a Yankees cap. The Mission Serve program which launched in 2009 seeks to establish

Veterans Day as a day of service and celebration bringing together the civilian and military communities to join together in community service. In addition to this project Bank of America employees throughout New York City contributed 36,000 hours of volunteer service in 2011.

“Heart of Brooklyn” Brings Together Six Celebrated Cultural Institutions — with a Direct Economic Impact on Central Brooklyn

The six iconic institutions that make up the “Heart of Brooklyn” cultural partnership recognized that there were synergies in their geographical proximity — they are all located in a 650-acre area near Grand Army Plaza in Central Brooklyn.

So in 2001, informal efforts to co-sponsor events and share resources evolved into a true partnership for Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Public Library, Prospect

But the vision was larger — to revitalize the local community to which they all had a deep commitment. Connecting with the New York City Department of Small Business Services, they worked together to undertake neighborhood revitalization and streetscape beautification programs on nearby Washington and Vanderbilt Avenues in Prospect Heights and Crown Heights.

In 2006, just five years after its founding, Heart of Brooklyn was the recipient of a Bank of America Neighborhood Builder award. The grant had a catalytic effect, enhancing programs, increasing staff and providing more services to local residents. It also enabled the organization to reach out to storeowners in their central Brooklyn neighborhood. As a result of NEI funding, Heart of Brooklyn was able to hire a full-time Community Outreach Manager to work directly with low-to-moderate income merchants to bring more activity to the commercial corridor.

Today, Heart of Brooklyn is a place where world-class cultural institutions, local businesses, and clean streets attract visitors from all over the world, supporting local

Founder and Director Ellen Salpeter has been at the organization’s helm since the beginning. She says, “Bank of America saw that we were a young organization, but one with the heft of six large institutions behind us. Their funding enabled us to reach deeper into the community, extending programming to 2,300 more children, connecting with 150 existing businesses and helping 75 others get off the ground. Heart of Brooklyn demonstrates that when cultural institutions partner with the community, truly great things can happen.”

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A medical inspiration

Because of Noman Kahn’s work promoting science education in East Harlem, Bank of America provided him with a Local Hero award, one of hundreds given out across the country as part of the bank’s Neighborhood Excellence Initiative. Kahn created a program that pairs students in the East Harlem Tutorial Program with researchers at the city’s Touro’s College of Osteopathic Medicine.

“This award means that we can grow our program beyond where we are already,” Kahn said. “Not only is it going to make a huge difference, but this money is going to be directly responsible for young adults from

Practicing Medicine
Kahn always knew he wanted to become a doctor and work in underserved New York City neighborhoods. After graduating from the city’s Touro College, he was ready to help others like himself succeed in the field of medicine—and help their neighbors.

Despite a heavy schedule as a full-time medical student, Kahn began volunteering at the East Harlem Tutorial Program, a long-standing organization that tutors kids in a variety of subjects. Kahn soon learned that local schools lacked adequate educational resources,

A Great Pair
This led him to help pioneer the unique pairing program with Touro’s College of Osteopathic Medicine. The hybrid program provides advanced science education, while supporting students' efforts to address crippling community health issues such as diabetes, obesity and heart disease.

“We saw a need for a science program with East Harlem Tutorial Program,” Kahn said. “We decided to create an opportunity that was a fairly novel approach to science education in that we didn’t just want to lecture students.” Instead, Kahn wanted to show them how it’s done.

By providing the students with the opportunity to learn more about science and visit medical school labs, Kahn says he sees the students becoming excited and inspired by their work. It is that spark, he said, that is so valuable in helping them recognize that they can go to medical school and work in this field.

“When we brought everyone into the medical school and they started to go into the laboratory facilities, [we saw] the sheer joy and interest on their faces. It became very, very clear to me…that it’s not so much that the desire isn’t there to go into medical school…but the instruction isn’t there,” Kahn said. “If we give them the instruction and the mentorship, they will head into the health fields.”

Not only has the number of students who express interest in medical careers increased since the program started four years ago, but Kahn has seen a positive impact on the students’ science grades as well.

An Information Source
While asthma, diabetes, and obesity are common problems in underserved neighborhoods such as Harlem, a lack of understanding exists about these diseases, Kahn said. He and his colleagues realized the students could become an additional source of information, so they concentrate on these healthcare problems as a way to start educating not only the students, but their family and peers.

This was a win-win for Kahn. “It kind of had a two-fold effect. We got students interested in medicine, but we also created a source of information for the community,” he said.

“For a company like Bank of America to give back to community…it inspires other companies to do the same. Hopefully, through programs like this, there will be a stronger understanding that if you’re doing business in a community, giving back is the best way to improve it.”

See more about Bank of America's Neighborhood Excellence Initiative.

Seeds of leadership

Assel Alwaqza didn’t suspect that a part-time job in the food industry was going to have a major impact on this life. But after landing a job at a local nonprofit, Alwaqza learned much more than he could have imagined.

The high school student found a position with Added Value, which promotes the sustainable development of the Red Hook neighborhood in Brooklyn by nurturing a new generation of young leaders. The organization focuses on teaching youth leadership skills through urban agricultural projects.

At Added Value, Alwaqza learned how food production impacts the health, economy and environment of his

On-the-job skills
Alwaqza usually spends three days a week with Added Value, where he helps set up for the farmers’ market, gives tours of the farm and helps with workshops that educate people about different kinds of food systems.

In the process, Alwaqza said he has developed skills and a deep commitment to making his community better. Working on the farm has made him more aware of the processing that goes into food, and the fact that

“As time went by, I started to learn about youth leadership…skills, and how we, the youth, can be involved in the community and how we can make change,” Alwaqza said. “Although I am young, I feel like I can change my community. I can change the world.”

Backgrounds Play a Role
Coming from a Muslim family, Alwaqza was concerned about the controversy surrounding the building of the mosque near Ground Zero. He decided to use his new training and skills to develop a Muslim-youth organization that promotes tolerance by helping Muslim kids get involved in their communities. By doing this,

As a result of his efforts, Alwaqza was honored with a Student Leader award from Bank of America. He is one of hundreds around the country who received awards as part of the Bank’s Neighborhood Excellence Initiative (NEI).

Lasting Impressions
For his NEI internship, Alwaqza spent seven weeks working at the McBurney YMCA in New York City where he helped with summer camps and in the office, and sat in on corporate meetings. Alwaqza said the experience ultimately gave him an understanding of how large

The Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. also left a major impression. “To me it was a life-changing experience. I learned a lot and came back with so much more energy…new ideas. I started to apply whatever I learned in DC to my daily life in school, at work and everywhere,” he said.

Alwaqza is making plans for college, where he intends to major in biology and pursue a degree in medicine. “There isn’t a limit to what we can do,” Alwaqza said, “especially for me at a young age. I still have my future, so I have a lot [I plan] to do.”

See more about Bank of America's Neighborhood Excellence Initiative.

Queens Theatre in the Park fuels economic growth in local community

Queens Theatre in the Park produces as many as 300 performances annually. The theatre strives to reflect the diversity of Queens in its productions as well as feature

During the recent challenging economic times, Queens

Since its rehabilitation in 1993, the theatre’s annual operating budget has grown from $500,000 to nearly $3 million. Rosenstock supports his theatre and surrounding

“It’s a real economic driver in Queens,” said Bank of America New York City Market Manager Connie Verducci, who works with the organization as part of her role in the Bank’s philanthropic and community outreach. “People feel really good that the city and organizations invested in Queens Theatre in the Park.

Queens Theatre in the Park partners with a wide range of community organizations including Vallo Transportation, which uses its buses to transport students to performances, the Pine Restaurant, which offers catering services for the theatre and William Charles Printing, which produces playbills and brochures to advertise programming.

"Business is hard to find,” said Ed Simon, account manager at William Charles Printing. “People aren’t spending money like they used to and even when they

The expansion of BUILT, one tote
at a time

In 2003, industrial designers Aaron Lown and John Roscoe Swartz started BUILT, a New York-based design company that makes stylish bags and accessories for people on the go. Their founding philosophy was simple: Good design can make everyday life better.

The duo saw an opportunity to improve the way people carry everyday essentials like food, beverages, and computers. Their first product was an innovative wine bag made from neoprene—the lightweight wetsuit material—that insulated and protected bottles while out-shining its peers in style.

In their first two years of business, Lown and Swartz sold more than one million of these iconic totes. They were eager to innovate other ubiquitous products, but they knew that expansion would require investment far greater than the seed money they’d borrowed from

“When we saw a solid business led by great people with realistic expansion plans, it was very exciting for us to get in on the ground level and help them grow,” says Erin McCloskey, a senior vice president and client manager in business banking who manages the bank’s day-to-day relationship with BUILT. For the past several years, Bank of America has provided BUILT with access to capital and financial management support, freeing its founders to focus on their creative vision, diversify its product line, and expand its retailers. Today, BUILT products are sold in more than 10,000 retail outlets in 50 countries.

While BUILT has amassed an international fan base, the founders continue to look to their home base, New York City, to inflect their products with bold personality. “New York is always giving us ideas through its structure, whether it’s the way the skyscrapers are built or how the subways are laid out,” says co-founder Swartz, who is also the company’s CEO. “And of course, it’s the people here. Their diversity is so inspiring.”

Lown, who is also the Chief Design Officer, and Swartz credit their success to a talented and dedicated team that has grown to 50 employees, plus a larger network of support at home and abroad. BUILT relies on its

What started in 2003 as a two-person design project is now a multimillion-dollar brand with a global presence. BUILT is a story of entrepreneurship in the name of fashion and function—one that Bank of America is proud to support.