Citibank to help kids return to school

Citibank to help kids return to school

JAKARTA (JP): Citibank Indonesia marked on Thursday the start
of its three-year education project to help dropouts return to
school, an executive with the bank said.

Ditta Amahorseya, head of corporate affairs at the bank, said
the project, named Citibank Cares, is divided into three programs
with a total budget of Rp 1 billion.

"The program will offer not only funds, but also the active
involvement of over 500 Citibank employees as project
volunteers," she said.

The time employees volunteer to the program will count as
working hours, Ditta added.

The first of the project's programs involves funding the
efforts of several organizations to prevent children from
dropping out of school, she said.

Also part of the project is a Big Brother and Big Sister
program, in which Citibank volunteers meet with dropouts to
encourage them to return to school.

Ditta explained that under this program, the bank would
provide each child with Rp 350,000 for tuition fees, books and
uniforms.

The third program is a joint effort with Pustaka Kelana, a
foundation which manages a mobile library for children and
teenagers.

Citibank will also allocate space on the seventh floor of its
Landmark Building for the project.

One of the first foundations to receive donations from
Citibank was Bintang Pancasila.

Piyush Gupt, Citibank's country manager, said, "We're
providing funds and volunteers to help needy children. We believe
that the active involvement of Citibank volunteers will encourage
the children, as well as the foundations and nongovernmental
organizations involved in providing more education for our
children." (bsr)