San Diego Nonprofits Receive Largest Set of 'Green' Grants Awarded by the Bank of...

San Diego Nonprofits Receive Largest Set of 'Green' Grants Awarded by the Bank
of America Charitable Foundation in California Under New Environmental
Initiative
Mayor Sanders lauds funds for four local environmental sustainability efforts

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- San Diego nonprofits working to improve
the environment are the recipients of the first and largest set of
environmental grants provided by the Bank of America Charitable Foundation in
California since announcing its $20 billion Environmental Initiative to reduce
climate change. San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders joined Bank of America to
announce $500,000 in "green" grants as part of the city's overall strategy to
increase environmental sustainability in the region.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050720/CLW086LOGO-b )
Today's announcement was made at the future site of a new health center in
the low-income neighborhood of City Heights that will be green-built by
nonprofit developer La Maestra to meet gold-certified standards by the U.S.
Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
program.
The four Bank of America Charitable Foundation green grants are:
-- $250,000 to the San Diego Foundation's Climate Initiative to develop
policy solutions at the local government and grassroots level that
curb global warming, and generate public awareness around climate
change. www.sdfoundation.org
-- $100,000 to the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation
(EDC) to further promote environmentally sustainable practices in
the business community and develop a Clean Technology business
cluster, proposed last Spring by Mayor Sanders.
www.sandiegobusiness.org
-- $100,000 to La Maestra Community Health Center for the construction
of a green-built, LEED Gold certified health center in City Heights.
www.lamaestra.org
-- $50,000 for the California Center for Sustainable Energy to offer
workshops for residents to make changes in their daily routines to
mitigate climate change, and to provide residential green-building
assistance, particularly in the rebuilding following the recent
wildfires. www.energycenter.org

"This is the first and largest package of environmental grants Bank of
America has made here in California as part of its new Environmental
Initiative," Janet Lamkin, President of Bank of America California, said. "It
grew out of our working relationships with Mayor Sanders and local
environmental organizations, and it represents a huge investment in San Diego
and particularly in the Mayor's efforts to make this the greenest city in the
world."
"The environment is the most precious gift we leave for our children. We
thank Bank of America for recognizing the leadership that the City of San
Diego and local nonprofit organizations are taking in the area of
environmental sustainability, and supporting our efforts to create a
sustainable economy," said Mayor Sanders. "With public-private partnerships
like this one, San Diego can -- and will -- become a globally recognized
cleantech business leader."
Bank of America has a legacy of environmental leadership dating back two
decades, when it began implementing an environmental focus to its own
operations and business practices. For example, it does not finance projects
that would destroy primary moist tropical rainforests, certain endangered
forests or companies involved in illegal logging. Internally, the company
reduced paper usage per associate by 40 percent, and set aggressive, voluntary
goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the company nine percent
through the reduction of its energy consumption. Bank of America also gives
its associates $3,000 to buy a hybrid car -- a program piloted in Southern
California.
Today, the company is building what is expected to be the world's most
environmentally-sound sky scraper in Manhattan, and recently opened its
greenest retail bank branch ever in Southern California, built to meet the
highest LEED Platinum green-built standards.
The $20 billion environmental initiative announced in March 2007
encourages development of environmentally sustainable business practices
through lending, investing, philanthropy and the creation of new products and
services. The first significant investments under this plan were in
California, from outfitting the largest solar K-12 school program in the
nation, to preserving redwood forests.
More information on Bank of America's environmental efforts can be found
at http://www.bankofamerica.com/environment .
Bank of America Corporate Philanthropy
Building on a long-standing tradition of investing in the communities it
serves, Bank of America is in its fourth year of achieving an unprecedented
10-year goal to donate $1.5 billion to nonprofit organizations engaged in
improving the health and vitality of their neighborhoods. Funded by Bank of
America, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation will give more than $225
million in 2008, making the bank the most generous financial institution in
the world and the second largest donor of all U.S. corporations in cash
contributions. Bank of America approaches giving through a national strategy
called "neighborhood excellence" under which it works with local leaders to
identify and meet the most pressing needs of individual communities. Through
Team Bank of America, bank associate volunteers contributed more than 650,000
hours in 2007 to enhance the quality of life in their communities nationwide.
For more information about Bank of America Corporate Philanthropy, please
visit http://www.bankofamerica.com/foundation .
SOURCE Bank of America

Reporters, Colleen Haggerty of Bank of America, +1-213-718-2156,
Colleen.Haggerty@BankofAmerica.com