United Way of the Bay Area Blog » community impact awards

Spirit of the Bay Winners Announced!

Olu Johnson — Thu, 13 May 2010 22:45:25 +0000

Tuesday evening, United Way of the Bay Area honored Bank of America and BRE Properties, Inc. with its highest tribute, the 2010 Spirit of the Bay Award. While all of the nominated companies are strong United Way partners, Bank of America and BRE Properties went above and beyond the call of duty to give back to their community.

United Way’s prestigious award recognizes two Bay Area employers that exceed all others in community involvement through its partnership with UWBA. Thirty two local employers submitted applications for the 2010 award, which were reviewed by an independent evaluation committee composed of representatives from Bay Area corporations actively involved with United Way.

In addition to the Spirit of the Bay Award, United Way presented awards in several other categories to recognize local companies and individuals for their outstanding dedication to community.

These include:


Anheuser-Busch,Inc AT&T Corporation Ball Metal Container Group Bryan Cave LLP, Cargill Salt California Department of Transportation Cargill Salt Comcast Costco Deloitte Enterprise Holdings FedEx	Gordon & Rees LLP GPSG (A Unit of ALZA) J&B Aviation (A Unit of Illinois Tool Works) JCPenney KGO-TV Neiman Marcus Nordstrom Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP	SamTrans Target Corporation The Dow Chemical Company Union Bank UPS Valero Benicia Refinery Wells Fargo Western Digital Corporation Winston & Strawn.

To see photos from the event, including more award winners visit us on Flickr.

A Commitment to Community Impact

Sonali Joshi — Fri, 29 May 2009 18:36:03 +0000

Wells Fargo's Kellee Ford, Peter Dudley and Lillian Lopez with their 2008/09 Spirit of the Bay Award.

On Thursday, Wells Fargo Bank and BRE Properties Inc. were named winners of United Way’s 2008/09 Spirit of the Bay Award. The award recognizes companies that most outstandingly embodied a corporate culture of philanthropy and volunteerism during the 2008/09 United Way campaign.

This year marks the first time United Way awarded Spirit of the Bay to two companies. The United Way awards committee wanted to acknowledge both a large company (more than 500 employees), as well as honor a smaller firm (500 or fewer employees).

Wells Fargo was recognized for its strong participation in United Way’s Week of Caring, which jumped 69% as more than 2,700 employees supported 71 Bay Area nonprofits on 198 projects, totaling an estimated 8,100 hours of volunteer time. In addition 6,190 employees served on more than 10,180 nonprofit boards across the country.

Michael McCann and Connie Moore from BRE Properties accepted the 2008/09 Spirit of the Bay Award.

BRE Properties Inc. was recognized for its leadership in helping to launch and expand Real Estate 4 Tomorrow’s Adults, a United Way program that creates internships for Bay Area students, building their skills and cultivating the next generation of real estate professionals. BRE was also honored for doubling the number of employee volunteers who participated in Week of Caring.

Additional winners representing a broad mix of corporate and civic partners were also given awards at four levels: Anchor, Gold, Silver and Bronze. 2008/09 Community Impact Award Winners.

Read the Full Press release here.

Update: We’ve added pictures of the event.

Recognizing the Best in the Bay

Olu Johnson — Wed, 27 May 2009 19:00:19 +0000

Lucretia Weiner and Matt Lonner representing Chevron Corp, 2007/08 Spirit of the Bay Award Winners

Thursday, May 28 is United Way’s 8th annual Community Impact Awards which recognize leaders in corporate volunteerism and philanthropy. Awards are given in various levels, with the most prestigious being the Spirit of the Bay Award. This honor recognizes a company that has exhibited the deepest levels of commitment to the community. This year’s event is being held at the Wells Fargo Penthouse.

This year 34 companies submitted applications for the Community Impact Awards, which were reviewed by an independent evaluation committee. This group, composed of representatives from Bay Area corporations actively involved with United Way, weighed various factors including, but not limited to volunteerism and Week of Caring participation, corporate and employee giving, and other forms of engagement with United Way.

Previous winners of the Spirit of the Bay include Chevron (07/08), and Valero Benicia refinery (06/07).

Past Spirit of the Bay Winners

2007/08 Chevron
2006/07 Valero Benicia Refinery
2005/06 Enterprise Rent-a-Car
2004/05 UPS
2003/04 Wells Fargo & Company
2002/03 FedEx
2001/02 Valero Benicia Refinery