Wells Fargo North Bay philanthropy accelerates during wildfire recovery

In 2017, Wells Fargo donated $1.12 million to schools and nonprofits in the North Bay, and employee team members demonstrated their spirit of giving by volunteering 4,814 hours of their time.

To help families recover from wildfires, Wells Fargo pledged $1 million in support. Some of these funds were given to local nonprofits focused on disaster relief and recovery efforts, such as the American Red Cross’s California wildfire relief fund, the Salvation Army (Del Norte Division) and also to the bank’s WE Care Fund that makes financial grants to Wells Fargo team members impacted by disasters.

The fires incinerated more than 5,000 buildings, including some employee homes. For example, Wells Fargo’s Northern California Region Bank President, Thomas Sands, lost his home and everything he owned during the wildfires. Despite the personal hardship, he led the bank’s volunteer initiatives to help other employees and community members affected.

During the fires, employees from nearby regions helped staff Northern California branches so Wells Fargo customers would have access to much-needed funds. They collected food and clothing, organized a toy drive, raised money to buy gifts for people impacted, and took time off to volunteer at local shelters or with Sonoma County Recovery and Rebuilding Together Petaluma to fill the need for personnel for fire relief operations.

Grant recipients include Rebuilding Together Petaluma to make repairs at the Mary Isaak Center, the SchoolRules Marin educational campaign, Centro Laboral de Graton, TMC Development Working Solutions, Napa Valley Community Housing, Redwood Empire Food Bank (Santa Rosa), American Red Cross (Santa Rosa), Novato Human Needs Center, Canal Alliance Downtown Streets Team, Goodwill Industries, Work Force Development Board Alliance, Habitat For Humanity, Marin SBDC, La Luz Bilingual Center, Lime Foundation, Bernard Osher Marin Jewish Community Center, Marin County Office of Education, the Bay Area Discovery Museum, Latinos Unidos del Condado de Sonoma, Boys and Girls Clubs – Petaluma, Sonoma Valley Education Foundation, American Heart Association - Santa Rosa, Pacific Community Ventures, North Coast SBDC and Homeward Bound of Marin.