UofL received Republic Bank’s We CARE award in the education and public service category.
The selection committee chose winners based on how they encourage employees to become involved in volunteer activities during or after work hours and also on how they support community-based initiatives through philanthropic efforts and neighborhood assistance.
Community engagement is part of UofL’s mission. We’re proud of the countless hours our employees spend helping others because they want to make the Louisville Metro area a better place for all to live, said UofL President James Ramsey.
UofL contributes hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours to the Louisville community each year. Among its community programs are:
- UofL Cares annual employee-giving campaign, which supports six community organizations
- Every1Reads, through which more than 400 employees volunteer in 82 schools and 30 community organization sites
- Signature Partnership Initiative, an effort to eliminate or reduce education, health, economic and social condition disparities for people in western Louisville. It involves the expertise and energy of faculty, staff and students from every school and college at UofL
- Atkinson Academy, through which faculty and students provide expertise in health education, social skills and literacy
- Kentucky Racing, a clinic at Churchill Downs that involves the schools of nursing and medicine, and the Spanish department
UofL also has an office devoted to encouraging university engagement and included community engagement as a strategic area in its 2020 Plan.
Part of what it means to be a metropolitan university is that the city is better because we’re here — but we’re also better because the city is here. There’s a real exchange and a real engagement. That’s what we ask of our faculty and staff. It’s what we ask of our students — to be fully engaged and contributing members of the community, said University Provost Shirley Willihnganz.
According to Republic Bank, We CARE awards are meant to recognize and give appreciation to local companies whose employees are doing great things for the community. The award was created to publicly congratulate companies who stress the four elements contained in the CARE name itself — Community Activity Recognition Enterprise.
These awards have again brought to light the quality and variety of volunteer work done by so many companies in our community, said Steve Trager, Republic Bank chairman and CEO.
Winners received a handmade glass sculpture designed by Ken von Roenn of Louisville’s Architectural Glass Art and will be featured in vignettes that media partner WAVE-TV will produce and broadcast.