Our World Gives
The Western Union Employee Giving Circle
Through the Western Union Employee Giving Circle, employees around the world make contributions to the Western Union Foundation to support economic empowerment and education programs in more than 100 countries. Employees in our Montvale, NJ office were happy to "give a hand" to help those in need.
Foundation funding to Mercy Corps in Haiti
Mercy Corps, our first Western Union's Our World, Our Family® program partner, helps people in the world's toughest places turn the crises of natural disaster and poverty into opportunities for progress. Driven by local needs and market conditions, Mercy Corps programs provide communities with the tools and support necessary to transform lives. Since 2007, our relationship with Mercy Corps has positively impacted more than 650,000 lives. Foundation funding to Mercy Corps in Haiti has already been used to seed fund eleven businesses/projects in Haiti through microloans.
Guatemalaian Women in the Field
In Guatemala, Foundation funding is supporting sustainable economic development by providing microfinance services to rural women, allowing them to establish small businesses and receive the educational resources needed to provide for themselves and their families.
Giving with Heart and Muscle
Western Union employees in Romania partnered with their local chapter of Habitat for Humanity to build a house for an immigrant family.
Our World Connects
Donations to Haiti
To sustain the spotlight on Haiti and build on its gift-match program, the Western Union Foundation is matching consumer gifts to the international nonprofit Mercy Corps (www.mercycorps.org). Donations will support Haiti-based economic recovery programs that will touch as many as 10,000 lives. The match is available for contributions made online through www.westernunion.com/haiti or at no cost via participating Agent locations in the U.S. through the Western Union® Quick Collect® service (code city: Mercycorps, OR). The gift-match component of the program will be active through December 31, 2011 or until the total $1 million goal has been met, whichever comes first.
African Diaspora Marketplace
In January 2010, fourteen diaspora-driven businesses in seven African countries were awarded grants of up to $100,000 at the first ever African Diaspora Marketplace in Washington, D.C. The grants were financed jointly by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Western Union Company and the Western Union Foundation through Agent Giving Circles featuring Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) in Africa and Irv Barr Management in the United States.
50 Days of Giving
Through Western Union's 50 Days of Giving campaign in 2010, the company helped raise charitable-giving awareness during the holiday season. Western Union announced an initial total of $100,000 in grants to benefit five U.S.-based NGOs: Boys & Girls Clubs of America, CARE USA, Mercy Corps, Save the Children and The U.S. Fund for UNICEF. Together with six-time Grammy Award winning recording artist, John Legend, we also unveiled www.50daysofgiving.com - an online voting site that encouraged consumers to take an active role in supporting one of the five charities this holiday season. Mercy Corps received the most online votes during the voting period, which ended on December 25, 2010, and as a result, they received an additional $150,000 grant from Western Union.
Global Migration Barometer
Western Union commissioned the Economist Intelligence Unit to compile the Global Migration Barometer and an assessment of countries' need for migrants.
