Standing up for Veterans BNY Mellon Expands Support for Returning Military

PITTSBURGH, Aug. 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- BNY Mellon, the global leader in investment management and investment services, is joining forces with Veterans Leadership Program (VLP) of Western Pennsylvania to help place Veterans and their families onto a path of financial self-sufficiency through critical services and support. Vince Sands, Chairman of BNY Mellon of Pennsylvania, today announced an additional $100,000 charitable investment in VLP, along with a call to action to "Never Forget Vets" to special guests and several hundred employees gathered together on BNY Mellon's Pittsburgh campus.      

"Western Pennsylvania is home to a significant and growing number of Veterans, Reservists and Guard members, and some Veterans struggle in the transition from military service to a successful and sufficient civilian life," said Al Mercer, Executive Director, Veterans Leadership Program of Western Pennsylvania. "We work in the trenches with homeless, poor, and middle class Veterans and their families who are doing the difficult work of rebuilding their lives after military service. Through VLP and with the extraordinary support of organizations such as BNY Mellon, we are committed to helping our Veterans find homes, jobs, and essential services that they need, particularly when experiencing a crisis."

"We understand that re-entry to civilian life for many of our service men and women can be challenging and we can make a difference in helping to ease that transition as both an employer and a socially responsible business," Sands said. "Let's never forget our Vets, whether that is through volunteer service, financial support or a cup of coffee and a simple 'thank you' to active service members you see wearing their fatigues or Veterans you may meet."     

Founded in 1982, the Veterans Leadership Program (VLP) of Western Pennsylvania is a not-for-profit social service agency that provides essential housing, employment, and vital support services to eligible Veterans, service members and their families to improve self-sufficiency, sustainability, and quality of life. VLP is the largest provider of subsidized transitional- and permanent-housing to Veterans and their families in Western Pennsylvania. Each year, VLP serves more than 2,100 Veterans and their families, makes 5,000 referrals for essential services and operates one of the nation's most effective homeless Veteran employment programs that place Veterans in meaningful jobs. 

BNY Mellon's support for local veterans included volunteer service and employee-donated back-to-school care packages filled with stuffed animals, books and other kid-friendly items for local homeless Veterans and their families. VLP and BNY Mellon employees plan to distribute the care packages the following day to approximately 600 local homeless Veterans and their families at VLP's annual "Stand Down" event in the Hill District.

In recent years, the company has provided more than $1 million in support to several veterans' organizations in the United States and United Kingdom, including Community Hope, Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans Consortium, HELP USA, Sesame Workshop and Coming Home. BNY Mellon also recognizes that military personnel joining the civilian workforce possess the skills and discipline that make them exceptional employees. The company developed a Military Jobs "transcoder" on its careers website, bnymellon.com/careers, which makes it easier for military personnel to find jobs at BNY Mellon when they return to civilian life. By entering a military job code or title into the transcoder, applicants see a list of BNY Mellon's related job openings.

"This overall support to Veterans spotlights a strategic commitment by our company to help returning military personnel successfully transition to civilian life," Sands added. "By combining all our efforts into a unified global program, we can have a meaningful impact in helping to honor and support these great men and women."

BNY Mellon is a global investments company dedicated to helping its clients manage and service their financial assets throughout the investment lifecycle. Whether providing financial services for institutions, corporations or individual investors, BNY Mellon delivers informed investment management and investment services in 35 countries and more than 100 markets. As of June 30, 2013, BNY Mellon had $26.2 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration, and $1.4 trillion in assets under management. BNY Mellon can act as a single point of contact for clients looking to create, trade, hold, manage, service, distribute or restructure investments. BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK). BNY Mellon, whose local roots date back to 1869, has more than 7,700 employees in southwestern Pennsylvania. Learn more about BNY Mellon's recruitment programs for returning military, its philanthropic programs or the company's world-wide commitment to social responsibility at www.bnymellon.com, or follow us on Twitter @BNYMellon.

SOURCE BNY Mellon