Supporting our communities
is what credit unions do.

Throughout this extraordinarily challenging year, Kootenay Savings worked alongside our community and philanthropic partners to ensure they could adjust, adapt and continue to help our communities thrive. These people are our heroes and we salute them.

Our vision is a community where no one goes hungry.

To combat food shortages magnified by the pandemic, the Kootenay Savings Community Foundation partnered with Food Banks BC to distribute $50,000 amongst 11 food banks in the Kootenay region.

It was no contest.

Knowing how much local teachers had added to their back-to-school workload, we decided not to hold our traditional Kootenay Kids’ Calendar Contest in 2020. Instead we produced a beautiful “best of” calendar and gifted each school $500, no strings attached, to thank them for participating in the past.

“I appreciate Kootenay Savings helping me start the next chapter in my education journey. Community is much more than belonging to something; it’s about doing something together that makes belonging matter. To be recognized in this way is an incredible honour.” – Jillian Leslie, 2020 Community Champs Bursary Recipient

We committed $20,000 to
our local healthcare heroes
to secure priority medical
equipment and enhance
patient safety.

We awarded 31
bursaries, totalling
$42,500, to local high
school and post-
secondary students.

Our pledge of $10,000
helped establish Selkirk
College’s Digital Equity
Initiative supplying laptops
to students in need.

“Thanks to you, we were able to build capacity and advance isolation capabilities at Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital and associated facilities. More than ever, our professionals count on your support to enable access to the best possible healthcare.” – Lisa Pasin, Director of Development, KBRH Health Foundation

Over $20,600 was donated
to 33 deserving charities
and non-profit groups
through our 2020 Care
Wear Program.

A $25,000 gift from
our foundation helped
numerous local charities
struggling to deliver their
services during COVID-19.

In total, we funnelled
$277,185 into our
communities to make them
healthier, more vibrant and
livable places in 2020.

“Students in our region now have the opportunity to connect to nature through Wildsight's EcoStewards program. Thank you Kootenay Savings for helping to shape our youth of today to be the stewards for tomorrow!” – Jill Jennings, Education Coordinator, Wildsight

Mother Earth scored some major environmental wins in 2020.

As cars and trucks remained in the garage and planes on the ground, both carbon emissions and the demand for fossil fuels plummeted. Parts of the industrial world enjoyed the clearest skies in living memory.

In the Kootenays, we’re blessed with clean air in abundance, but that doesn’t make it any less precious to us.
Kootenay Savings has been consciously reducing our impact on the planet for decades now, and in 2020, our preparedness positioned us well to respond to the challenges of the pandemic. Meetings conducted by phone or web-based applications became the norm. A vast amount of business usually done in branch was handled by phone via our Member Service Centre. With so many employees working from home and members banking through our digital channels, our collective carbon footprint shrunk astonishingly. As we look forward to the COVID-19 cloud disappearing, the lessons learned will make us even more flexible and sustainable for the future.