Wells Fargo recently held their annual Greater San Gabriel Community Connections Breakfast in which more than $63,000 was donated to nonprofit community organizations and schools across the eastern region of Los Angeles. The heartwarming annual event was held in Pasadena at Noor, where 63 Wells Fargo community bank leaders selected an organization to donate a $1,000 grant in unrestricted funding.

To open the event Sandy Walia, Wells Fargo Greater San Gabriel area president; David DiCristofaro, Greater Los Angeles region president; Jonathan Weedman, head of the Wells Fargo Foundation in Los Angeles; and Congresswoman Judy Chu delivered remarks.

“We are proud to continue this tradition of honoring local nonprofits and schools, because at Wells Fargo we know we can only be as strong as the communities we serve,” said Walia. “We would like to recognize the organizations that are doing important work in our communities and helping our neighbors who need it most.”

As an added bonus, this year’s event also featured the donation of a life-sized plush pony to one lucky nonprofit attendee. Congresswoman Chu randomly selected the Rosemead Rebels, the winning nonprofit, from a bowl full of the names of all 63 organizations.

“This breakfast event really is my very favorite day of the year,” said DiCristofaro. “This is the one day when we are able to say ‘thank you’ for the truly significant, and often challenging, work nonprofits and schools are doing every single day to make our communities better.”

Wells Fargo first introduced the Community Connections Breakfast program in 1999 in Los Angeles to allow team members the opportunity to select community organizations to receive an unsolicited charitable contribution. Since then, Wells Fargo regions across the country have adopted the program allowing managers nationwide to participate and reach more local organizations.

“In 2013, Wells Fargo donated more than $275 million across the country, with $29 million of that donated right here in Los Angeles and surrounding areas,” said Weedman. “In fact, because of this focus on philanthropic giving and volunteerism, Wells Fargo was recently named among the ‘top corporate philanthropists’ in the nation by The Chronicles of Philanthropy, and has been the leading corporate donor in Los Angeles for the past seven years.”

The 2014 Community Connections Breakfast grant recipients included

1. A Place Called Home
2. ACF Western USA
3. Alhambra Police Department
4. American Cancer Society
5. American Red Cross San Gabriel Valley
6. Armenian American Nurses Association
7. Bellflower Unified School District
8. Bolton & Company
9. Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena
10. Boys and Girls Club of Long Beach
11. Calvary Chapel of Downey, Athletic Department
12. Carmelite Sisters
13. Clothes the Deal
14. Columbia School
15. Community Hospital, Long Beach
16. Corona Avenue Elementary School
17. C-V Alliance, Community Values for Crescenta Valley
18. Dolores Mission School
19. Door of Hope
20. Drew Child Development Corporation
21. D’Veal Family and Youth Services
22. Eggleston Youth Center
23. El Nido Family Centers
24. Epic Program of Cal State L.A. Educational Participation In Communities
25. Five Acres
26. Genesis Enterprises
27. Grace Bible Church
28. Gumball Foundation
29. Hathaway-Sycamores
30. Help the Children
31. Homenetmen Ararat
32. Hope House for the Multiple-Handicapped Inc.
33. Huntington Library
34. Huntington Park Police Department
35. Ideal Youth
36. Immaculate Conception School
37. International Institute of Los Angeles
38. La Plaza de Cultura y Artes
39. Life Light Educational Foundation
40. National Assistance League
41. Oak Avenue Intermediate School
42. Olive Crest
43. Operation Hope
44. Our Lady of Perpetual Help School
45. Police Activities League
46. Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee
47. Pasadena Educational Foundation
48. Pasadena Humane Society
49. Pasadena Playhouse
50. People for People
51. Quality of Life Services, Inc.
52. Rosemary Children’s Services
53. Rosemead Rebels
54. Ruben Salazar High School
55. San Gabriel Valley Humane Society
56. San Marino High School Football Team
57. South Pasadena Kiwanis Club
58. St. Francis Medical Center Foundation
59. The Wall Las Memorias
60. UEDF Food Bank
61. Victory Bible Church
62. Villa Esperanza
63. YMCA West San Gabriel Valley

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.6 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 locations, 12,500 ATMs, and the internet (wellsfargo.com), and has offices in 36 countries to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 265,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 29 on Fortune’s 2014 rankings of America’s largest corporations. In 2013, the Company invested $275.5 million in grants to 18,500 nonprofits, and team members contributed more than 1.69 million volunteer hours around the country. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Wells Fargo perspectives and stories are also available at blogs.wellsfargo.com and at wellsfargo.com/stories.