'Orange Hearts' Volunteering Program

The “Orange Hearts” program carried out at ING Bank aims at encouraging ING Bank employees to participate in volunteering activities and to unite the activities of employees, who work voluntarily in different areas, under a single roof. In the scope of the program, ING Bank employees can take part in social responsibility projects, offering their time and talents and also providing financial support. They can also share their own projects with fellow employees. Launched in cooperation with Association of Private Sector Volunteers, the motto of the Orange Hearts project is “Set Your Heart on Benevolence”. In the activities carried out to date:

• Since 2008, every year our employees volunteer in several activities to raise funds for UNICEF, under ING Bank’s “Big Support for Little Ones” initiative, carried out both locally and on the international level. With the aim of creating finance for children, 720 ING Bank employees have spent a total of 2020 hours, participating in various activities in the past 4 years. Having raised funds for many runs, ING staff members also ran for funding the region after the mine disaster in Soma. After the launch of Orange Hearts Corporate Volunteering Program, ING family members also participated in the London Marathon in April 2015. Two ING Bank members who ran for Turkey raised donations to support the Orange Kindergarten and Preschool Education Center, to be constructed in Kahramanmaraş by our Bank.
• In the scope of the Employee Volunteering Week in May 2015, Orange Hearts held activities in Istanbul, Ankara and Kahramanmaraş. At Fenerbahçe Park, they organized social activities with mentally disabled individuals with “Best Buddies Turkiye”. With their family members, Orange Hearts participated in environmental cleanup activities in Istanbul, Ankara and Kahramanmaraş, under “Let’s do it! Turkiye”. In the scope of the week, they were also trained for beginner’s level Turkish Sign Language, through the “Words of Silence” project, organized by Alternative Life Association to raise awareness for silent communication. 
• In 2015, Orange Hearts also supported the “No Lost Generation” campaign by UNICEF, aiming at offering better living conditions for the children of the Syrian refugee families, offering volunteer work and financial support to the project. In the Istanbul Marathon, held on 15 November 2015, 172 ING Bank runners ran to raise funds for the No Lost Generation program.
• On 5 December, Orange Hearts celebrated the World Volunteers Day with a series of organizations. In the first week of the program, Orange Hearts participated in the “School Friends” program, designed by the Association of Private Sector Volunteers. Volunteering as instructors for this program, Orange Hearts contributed in raising environmental awareness and improving creative thinking and curiosity among children. 
• In the second week of the activities held in the scope of World Volunteers Day, 100 ING Bank employees volunteered for the Orange Drops social responsibility program and offered saving-based financial literacy training to schoolchildren across 15 provinces including Istanbul, Ankara, Mersin, Kayseri, Izmir, Kahramanmaraş and Konya.