Coast-to-Coast Community Service

My children were fortunate enough to attend a wonderfully diverse elementary school — 19 languages spoken in the homes of our families! But their school didn't seem to really celebrate that diversity. One year my friend Lesley volunteered me to do something about that, and I am so glad she did! That was the start of International Night  at Lafayette Elementary School. And I'm proud to say the celebration has grown over the years and is still going strong! It just goes to show what volunteering and giving back to the community can do.

I am also grateful to Wells Fargo for what I, as an employee, have learned about valuing diversity and for the amazing support Wells Fargo gives team members for their community work. With that great pride, I am happy to introduce you to our next guest blogger — Jon Campbell, who heads up our Social Responsibility Group.

I know this is a "merger blog," but as the head of our company's Social Responsibility Group, I'd like to set the stage just a little broader, especially given the current economic environment. Things are hard everywhere — you know this. And if you've read stories like this one  in the New York Times, and more recent articles in the Colorado Springs Gazette  and in USA Today , you know nonprofits are feeling the pinch too. In fact, they need our support now more than ever before.

When Wells Fargo announced it was buying Wachovia, our CEO John Stumpf made it clear the merger would create "a very compelling value proposition for our team members, customers, communities and shareholders."

I immediately zeroed in on the word "communities" and began to envision the incredible impact our combined team members could make, and how we could help create strong communities across the U.S.. Wells Fargo has a long history of investing not only financial capital in our communities, but also human capital through our team members, who are very active community leaders and volunteers.

That is the spirit of our culture and our vision and values.

On top of that, there's no question that Wachovia team members have been doing tremendous work in their communities as well. Put our two companies together, and we become twice as strong in the community — we remain fully committed to continuing our long tradition of community giving. After all, investing in our communities, especially now with such an increased need for services from nonprofits, is a way for us to help create future economic growth and prosperity.

So how will this work be impacted by the integration of our two companies? Well, you've probably seen the phrase "business as usual" on previous blog postings, and I'll borrow it when talking about our outlook for community involvement. While the merger has given us the opportunity to refine our approach, you can rest assured that the same voices who have been advocates for how each bank is represented in our communities — our team members — will continue to discern the unique needs of their community and the most effective ways our company can respond to those needs.

As I said, both companies are very proud of their great track records and will continue to operate and make charitable giving decisions as separate companies until we're a fully integrated company. As the integration unfolds and each company's charitable giving focuses and processes are viewed, careful consideration will be made to any changes that might be proposed.

I'm a big believer in the saying: "If it isn't broke, don't fix it." So for the foreseeable future, our dedication and attention will focus on many of the same programs and initiatives that have made us valuable partners in communities across America.

We really want to give you a better glimpse of how my colleagues and I are helping to fulfill our goal of creating strong, vibrant communities. So in the coming months, right here on this blog, we're going to highlight some of the great work taking place all around the country. Please stay tuned!

As always, we'll continue to listen to the needs of our customers and our communities and adjust accordingly, so if there's something you've seen Wells Fargo or Wachovia do in your community to make a difference, please let us know about it! And if there's something else we could do better, differently or for the first time, we want to hear from you as well.

Earlier I mentioned what our CEO John Stumpf said about the opportunities the merger would create. I know exactly what he means. One of the best parts of my job is the rewarding feeling I get from knowing that Wells Fargo is out in our communities making a difference every day.

And that's a "value proposition" if I've ever heard one.