CALGARY, AB - April 11, 2016 /CNW/ - Today, Scotiabank revealed its newest community investment in Calgary with a combined $250,000 donation to the YMCA Calgary, South Health Campus, part of which created a much-needed outdoor sports pad for local children.

To celebrate the opening, hometown heroes and Olympic Medalists -- Cassie Campbell-Pascall and Kelly Bechard -- hosted the inaugural hockey game on the sports pad. The Olympians were joined by kids and youth from the YMCA who will benefit from the new outdoor multi-use facility, along with their parents and Scotiabank's mascot Scoti.

To capture the excitement and the impact created by building the sports pad, Scotiabank is sharing a short video over its social channels and encouraging Calgarians to share it through their networks. For every video share, favourite or retweet, Scotiabank will donate an additional $5 towards the YMCA Calgary. This donation will go to the Scotiabank Youth Leadership and Recreation Fund, which the YMCA will use to expand and develop child and youth programming, fund program participation through YMCA's Strong Kids Campaign, and help build a healthy youth culture and positive generation of leaders.

The sports pad will be shared by the South Health Campus YMCA, Alberta Health Services and Calgary Health Trust. All three organizations, and the work they do in the community, will benefit from the addition of the sports pad to the health facility.

Scotiabank Quote

"The community is at the heart of everything we do. Scotiabank is excited to work with the YMCA Calgary to give local kids this great new sports pad to play, learn and hopefully make lifelong friendships. It's our honour to help support the great programming of the YMCA through the creation of the Scotiabank Youth Leadership and Recreation Fund. Kids are our future leaders and Scotiabank believes in helping to ensure that they have the necessary skills and resources they need to support their success."

- Laurie Stang, SVP, Prairie Region, Scotiabank

YMCA Calgary Quote

"The sport pad will allow young program participants to stay active, develop physical literacy, and learn the essential life skill of teamwork. We are proud to partner with Scotiabank to bring this sports pad to Calgary and have a lasting impact on our community."

- Helene Weir, President and CEO, YMCA Calgary

Alberta Health Services Quote

"Every day we see the benefits of giving young people access to facilities that allow them to exercise, participate in sports and have fun. This is a major contributor in maintaining wellness both physically and emotionally. Along with our fundraising partners at Calgary Health Trust, we are thrilled with Scotiabank's generosity that will be felt in our community for years to come."

- Lori Anderson, Senior Operating Officer, South Health Campus, Alberta Health Services

Quick Facts:

• Scotiabank has made a $250,000 donation to youth programming at YMCA Calgary, Alberta Health Services South Health Campus, and created an outdoor multi-purpose sports pad for sports like floor hockey, soccer, basketball, volleyball and badminton.
• Scotiabank has created a social media campaign to share how the kids reacted when seeing the new sports pad at the Calgary YMCA. Watch the video and share! Visit @Scotiabank.
• The YMCA at South Health Campus serves more than 500 youth each year through a combination of membership access, recreation and leadership programming and partnership activities with AHS. The YMCA and Alberta Health Services provide wellness activities to approximately 45 adolescent mental health in-patients each month.
• The newly developed "Scotiabank Youth Leadership and Recreation Fund," which the Bank is contributing $70,000 to create, enables the YMCA and Alberta Health Services to significantly expand programming opportunities through sport, leadership and recreation opportunities.
• Scotiabank's commitment is to make a measurable and lasting impact on communities globally.

About Scotiabank 
Through our global community investment strategy, Scotiabank and its employees support causes at a grassroots level. Recognized as a leader for our charitable donations and philanthropic activities, in 2015, Scotiabank contributed $67 million to help our communities around the world.

Scotiabank is Canada's international bank and a leading financial services provider in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean and Central America, and Asia-Pacific. We are dedicated to helping our 23 million customers become better off through a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. With a team of more than 89,000 employees and assets of $920 billion (as at January 31, 2016), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (TSX: BNS) and New York Exchanges (NYSE: BNS). Scotiabank distributes the Bank's media releases using CNW. For more information, please visit www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter@ScotiabankViews.