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RBC announces first Blue Water Project Grant pool of $1.5
million Grants will support watershed protection and safe drinking water
TORONTO, April 22, 2008 — To celebrate Earth
Day, RBC today announced its first Blue Water Project Leadership
Grants pool.
Grants are available to support projects in Canada, the United
States and the other 36 countries in which RBC operates, and
will range from $25,000 to $500,000 each, up to a total of
$1.5 million. The 2008 RBC Blue Water Project Leadership Grant
applications are due on June 30, 2008, and recipients will
be announced in September, 2008.
"Earth Day is the perfect time to kick off the Leadership
Grants stream of our Blue Water Project," said Gordon
M. Nixon, president and CEO, RBC. "We are looking forward
to hearing from organizations that are working to protect
our precious water sources and contribute to a culture of
water stewardship worldwide."
RBC recently convened an advisory panel of North American
water experts to help develop the overall Blue Water Project
granting strategy and guidelines. The panel determined that
RBC Blue Water Project grants should focus on two key areas:
watershed protection and programs related to safe drinking
water.
"You simply can't overstate the connection between
watershed protection and safe drinking water, and our goal
is to make a significant, measurable environmental and social
impact by focusing on these two areas," said Rob de Loë,
professor, Canada Research Chair in Water Management, University
of Guelph, and chair of the RBC Blue Water Project Advisory
Panel. "We hope that the programs funded through the
RBC Blue Water Project grants will help more people understand
how important fresh water resources are in their communities,
and that more individuals will have access to clean, safe
drinking water, especially in rural and indigenous communities."
The RBC Blue Water Project is a wide-ranging, multi-year
program to help foster a culture of water stewardship in Canada
and abroad, so that people have clean fresh water today and
tomorrow. The first phase of the RBC Blue Water Project, announced
in late 2007, is a 10-year, $50 million grant program, comprising
three streams: Visionary, Leadership and Community Action
Grants. The first Visionary Grant was a $10 million commitment
to the ONE DROP Foundation, established by Cirque du Soleil
founder, Guy Laliberté. The Community Action Grants
stream will be open for applications in June, 2008.
Royal Bank of Canada (RY on TSX and NYSE) and its subsidiaries
operate under the master brand name of RBC. It is Canada's
largest bank as measured by assets and market capitalization
and one of North America's leading diversified financial services
companies. RBC employs approximately 70,000 full- and part-time
employees who serve more than 15 million personal, business,
public sector and institutional clients throughout offices
in Canada, the U.S. and 36 other countries. In 2007, the company
released the RBC Environmental Blueprint, outlining its environmental
priorities and objectives. In 2007, RBC was named Canada's
top corporate citizen, and in 2008, was named one of top 100
sustainable companies in the world.
For more information on the RBC Blue Water Project, as well
as grant guidelines and applications for Leadership Grants,
visit www.rbc.com/bluewater.
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For more information contact:
Jackie Braden, RBC, Media Relations, (416) 974-2124
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