Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR is a concept that is vastly flourishing in the corporate sector. It does not only save them taxes but it also give them a good name and help them in building good reputation among the customers. People feel proud to deal with them if they are known for some social benefiting activity. One such corporation focusing on corporate social responsibility is Charter One Bank. Charter One Bank is a subsidiary of RBS, Citizens, N.A. It is operating in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio with 360 branches and 615 ATMs. 

In order to promote sports and also to help students who want to play sports but do not have the resources, Charter One Bank distributed free soccer balls to youth leagues and teams in 12 Metro Detroit communities to children ranging from 5 to 8 years in the year 2005. In 2006 Charter One Bank initiated a theft prevention program. There were many bank robberies taking place in the southeast Michigan. So Charter One Bank took up a mission to prevent these thefts. In order to do so it started a theft prevention program in partnership with the local law enforcement agencies offering rewards for the arrest and conviction. In 2005 Charter One Bank’s parent company won the award for supporting National Guard and reserve troops.

Another great step taken by the Charter One Bank is its Making Music Matter program for Greater Chicago Food Depository’s Food Rescue Program. This will continue throughout the summer of 2009 at the Charter One Pavilion which is a 7,500-seat outdoor concert amphitheatre located along Chicago’s lakefront. The Charter One Bank’s Charter One Foundation has donated $ 100,000 to Greater Chicago Food Depository’s Food Rescue Program.

This I show the Food Depository’s Food Rescue Program works. It recovers prepared and perishable food, such as meats, dairy products, baked goods and produce. Its six refrigerated Food Rescue trucks leave the Food Depository each morning to collect surplus food from retail grocery stores, restaurants, caterers and cafeterias. These donations are then delivered directly to pantries, soup kitchens and shelters for same-day distribution or meal preparation. The Food Rescue Program disseminated more than 5.4 million pounds of nutritious food to those in need in Cook County last year. 

Charter One Bank will fund a new refrigerated Food Rescue truck, cold storage units, and other necessities required to increase capacity for participating food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters in Cook County through its Making Music Matter initiative. An additional 500,000 pounds of food per year will be rescued with this support, which would distribute approximately 375,000 meals at 16 local food pantries and agencies.

Throughout the summer at the Charter One Pavilion, Charter One Bank employee volunteers partnering with Food Depository volunteers would raise awareness and funds for the Food Depository through interactive tent with games, information on the Food Depository and the opportunity for concert-goers to make a contribution. Donations can also be made at more than hundred Charter One Bank branch locations in Chicago. 

Such activities not only help in improving an organization’s reputation but also help a lot in improving the condition of the society. Corporations should remember that what they are is what the society thinks of them. It so happens that some bad social activity of a corporation or even a bad, careless remark given by some representative of an organization may increase its losses or it may even drive it out of the business. People boycott the products of the corporations who are involved in some activity that is against the society or a part of their customers. They should remember to give back what they have taken from the community. Companies involve in displaying and promoting corporate social responsibility earn more revenues and are more successful.