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Buzzing into the community

Vancity’s newest branch in Richmond didn’t waste any time in getting involved with the community. At the opening on Saturday of the credit union’s Blundell Centre location (No.
Vancity
Cameron Cartiere (second from left), associate professor at Emily Carr University, accepts a cheque for $12,500 from (left to right) Vancity’s Peter Reale, regional director, Nina Zhao, assistant branch manager, and Sanjeet Rana, branch manager for the Bath Slough Pollinator Project. Photo submitted

Vancity’s newest branch in Richmond didn’t waste any time in getting involved with the community.

At the opening on Saturday of the credit union’s Blundell Centre location (No. 2 Road and Blundell), staff presented a cheque for $12,500 to Emily Carr University which is spear-heading a project, called the Bath Slough Pollinator Project, which is designed to transform a barren, BC Hydro right-of-way in the Bridgeport industrial area into a bee-friendly meadow.

The assistance follows Vancity’s philosophy of being connected to its members and their communities, said Andy Broderick, the credit union’s vice president of community investment.

Broderick said Vancity annually distributes between $8 and $9 million in grant money to groups in the regions it serves.

“Vancity is a very unique organization,” Broderick said. “Our vision is that our members’ financial wellbeing can only be assured by the strength of their communities being strong also.

“We don’t see those things being separated, at all.”

The branch also has a special meeting room that is accessible by the community.

Another example of that is the branch’s dedicated showcase area where, on a weekly basis, the community can promote their products and services.

That has already been a popular aspect with bookings already stretching into 2015.

Keeping things close to home is also achieved through the way each branch operates and presents itself, added Vancity spokeswoman Lorraine Wilson, referring to the numerous local groups which have benefitted from grants.

“We have provided over $160,000 to projects in the  community over the last two years to organizations that make a social, environmental or economic impact, some of those organizations include; the Richmond Food Security Society, Farm Fresh incubating farmers in Richmond, Richmond Women’s Resource Centre, Richmond Food Bank Society Growing Food Recovery in Richmond, Richmond Rental Connect,”Stir it Up” Youth Kitchen, Good Food Access Program, Volunteers training for the NFP sector, Volunteer Futures, Business Excellence Award, to name a few.”

The new branch itself is also locally focused with a unique “living wall” on its exterior which is composed of indigenous plants that depicting the flow of the Fraser River into the ocean.

“You don’t have to be a member. You can book the room and it has all of the facilities you need — wireless access and a TV,” Wilson said. “The whole point of doing that is want to be a hub where the community can come and connect.”