Recognizing contributions from outstanding youth volunteers around the world

SASKATOON, SK, April 2, 2012 /CNW/ - Calling all youth who want to make a difference for themselves and their communities! Scotiabank today announced an international youth award program - Scotiabank Bright Future Young Leaders - to recognize youth who make outstanding contributions to their communities. The new award program is the first of its kind for Scotiabank and builds on the momentum of the Bank's highly successful global philanthropic program - Bright Future - launched in January 2011.

"From its earliest days almost 180 years ago in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Scotiabank has held a steadfast belief in supporting the needs of each community it serves," said Rick Waugh, President and CEO of Scotiabank. "We see the direct impact of community involvement every day, and we know how important it is to engage and recognize our next generation of volunteers and community leaders. Youth involvement today is essential to the long-term operation of charitable and not-for-profit organizations. The Scotiabank Bright Future Young Leaders Award gives us an opportunity to both reach out to those youth who have yet to become active volunteers while at the same time recognizing those young people who are already contributing in their communities."

Countries participating in the first year of the program include Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, Canada, the Cayman Islands, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Details about the Scotiabank Bright Future Young Leaders Award:

• The award program is open to youth, ages 16 to 24, who reside in the participating countries as noted above.
• To be eligible, applicants must reside in a participating country, complete 100 hours of volunteerism in a minimum of three of the Bank's six philanthropic pillars - education, arts, health, social services, sports and environment - log their hours at the award program website (www.scotiayoungleaders.com) and submit an essay describing the impact of their volunteerism on charitable organizations, their community and themselves.
• Essays will be reviewed by an international panel of jurors comprised of Veronica Lacey, President and CEO of The Learning Partnership, Tessa Bonhomme, Olympic & World Champion, Ice Hockey - Canada, Sue Graham Parker, Senior Vice President of Public, Corporate and Government Affairs for Scotiabank, Dr. Rosalea Hamilton, Scotiabank Chair, Entrepreneurship and Development, at the University of Technology in Jamaica, and Jatnna Tavarez, President of Jatnna Productions.
• The award program will annually recognize 12 youths internationally who will be awarded $2,500 CAD to contribute to a charity of their choice and a tablet computer to keep for personal use.

Commenting on the program, Ms. Bonhomme said, "This is a really exciting opportunity for youth and I am honoured to serve as a juror for this international award program. I have always believed in giving back to our communities and that each one of us can make a real difference when we give of our own unique gifts. Our youth have  tremendous energy and I can't wait to see their submissions."

Applications for the first year of the Scotiabank Bright Future Young Leaders Award program will recognize volunteer hours logged between November 1, 2011 and October 31, 2012.  The first recipients will be announced in the spring of 2013.

"We're so pleased to honour and encourage the next generation of community leaders who enjoy enriching the lives of others," said Sylvia Chrominska, Group Head of Global Human Resources and Communications for Scotiabank. "Giving back in meaningful ways is an intrinsic part of Scotiabank's history, culture and identity, something our 77,000 employees across 55 countries demonstrate with passion each year. We are thrilled to have youth join us to build upon this tradition of creating a bright future - one community at a time."

The Scotiabank Bright Future program is the Bank's global philanthropic program which brings together all of the Bank's charitable, social and community efforts and employee volunteer activities under one banner. Through the Bright Future program, the Bank's charitable efforts are aimed at being relevant and responsive to the needs of each community at a grassroots level and provide support across the fields of health, arts, education, social services, sports and the environment. In the Caribbean, Latin and Central America, the program focuses primarily on children and children's causes.

About Scotiabank:
Scotiabank is committed to supporting the communities in which we live and work, both in Canada and abroad, through our global philanthropic program, Scotiabank Bright Future.  Recognized as a leader internationally and among Canadian corporations for our charitable donations and philanthropic activities, Scotiabank has provided on average approximately $45 million annually to community causes around the world over each of the last five years. Visit us at www.scotiabank.com.

Video with caption: "Video: Be a Scotiabank Bright Future Young Leader!". Video available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/cgi-bin/playback.cgi?file=20120402_C9828_VIDEO_EN_11823.mp4&posterurl=http://photos.newswire.ca/images/20120402_C9828_PHOTO_EN_11823.jpg&clientName=Scotiabank&caption=Video%3A%20Be%20a%20Scotiabank%20Bright%20Future%20Young%20Leader%21&title=Scotiabank%20Bright%20Future%20Young%20Leaders&headline=Scotiabank%20Introduces%20International%20Bright%20Future%20Young%20Leaders%20Award

Image with caption: "Bright Future Young Leaders logo (CNW Group/Scotiabank)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20120402_C9828_PHOTO_EN_11801.jpg

Image with caption: "Bright Future Young Leaders French logo (CNW Group/Scotiabank)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20120402_C9828_PHOTO_EN_11802.jpg

Image with caption: "Bright Future Young Leaders Spanish logo (CNW Group/Scotiabank)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20120402_C9828_PHOTO_EN_11803.jpg

PDF with caption: "French release". PDF available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/media/2012/04/02/20120402_C9828_DOC_EN_11810.pdf

PDF with caption: "Spanish release". PDF available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/media/2012/04/02/20120402_C9828_DOC_EN_11811.pdf