By Wendy Anders

An estimated 123,000 people throughout the country benefited from Costa Rica’s National Bank (Banco Nacional de Costa Rica, BNCR) growing social responsibility program in 2016, said the financial entity last week.

The bank’s vision of a sustainable management model includes outreach throughout the country to provide volunteers in poor communities, holding financial education with target populations, supporting entrepreneurship and productivity, and reducing resource use, said Edder Calderón Artavia, director of public relations for the bank.

Last year, the BNCR carried out a new corporate volunteering project in which staff contributed more than 24,500 hours of work, said Calderón Artavia. Part of this work including aiding Costa Rica’s Zero Hunger Program to bring food to over 5,500 people through a partnership with the national food bank.

The bank also collaborated with local development associations to support 10 community infrastructure projects in Ostional, Nuevo Arenal, Sabalito, and Abangares, in Guanacaste, and San Luis de Monteverde in Puntarenas.

To aid in stimulating employment, the main pillar for community development, the bank supported business plans that led to the direct employment of 14,718 people in towns throughout the country, said Calderón Artavia.

And for the first time, the bank made a direct connection with the indigenous community in Zapata and Talamanca to understand their needs and seek tangible solutions. This year the bank said they hope to install the first ATM that uses the Bribri and Cabécar languages.

In an attempt to be more inclusive as an institution, a simplified electronic account (CES) was developed. This, and other products, attracted 45,343 new clients in 2016, including youth and children, said Calderon Artavia.

As part of the bank’s commitment to sustainability and the environment, 86 bank offices successfully implemented a recycling and resource reduction program which allowed for reduced consumption of electricity, water, paper, inks and fuels for a total savings of ¢125,127.47 billion colones, continued Calderón Artavia.

Finally, the bank’s financial education program reached various stakeholders and also vulnerable populations that included 16,768 women in poverty, 1,540 indigenous people, 1,944 people with disabilities, and 22,860 young people through alliances with other governmental and non-governmental organizations.