On November 5th 2009, DUCA Financial Services, a credit union based in North York, Ontario with close to $1 billion in assets, sponsored a breakfast to launch “The DUCA Village Project” in support of Opportunity International in Cartagena, Colombia. DUCA aims to raise $100,000 for this project over the next 3 years.
“Thanks to the generosity of our members, employees and guests, we raised over $12,000 during the sold-out breakfast” states Jack Vanderkooy, President and CEO of DUCA. “In fact, with corporate donations, sponsorships, summer BBQs and other events we have now raised over $30,000, which is 30 % of our goal”
Earlier this year, DUCA provided a $100,000 loan to help Opportunity International Canada start a full-fledged commercial financial institution in Colombia. This low-interest loan, the first philanthropic investment of any kind to Opportunity International Canada, will help capitalize Opportunity International Colombia — the new microfinance bank, preparing it for operations in 2010. Once open, the bank will offer a range of transformational microfinance services to marginalized segments of the population in remote areas.
CEO Jack Vanderkooy and Senior VP Credit Arnold Denton traveled to Cartagena, Colombia to observe Opportunity’s work on the ground in March of this year. While in Cartagena, they met Colombians who, with a loan of $150, had been able to transition from subsistence poverty to a situation of sustainable income. “The disconnect between what we see as poverty on TV and what we actually experienced when entering people's homes is probably our biggest take-away from this trip,” states Vanderkooy.
“In recent years, 3.8 million Colombians have been displaced from their homes and 49 % of the population lives in extreme poverty,” notes Paula Curtis, Opportunity International Canada’s President & CEO.
DUCA’s partnership with Opportunity reflects its founding ethos. The credit union was started in 1954 by a group of Dutch immigrants to Canada who wanted to provide financial services to those who were getting nowhere with the existing banks. Like those early immigrants, Opportunity International Canada aims to provide financial services in the developing world to those who might otherwise have no access to them.
“At DUCA, we are grateful that our participation and financial assistance provides opportunity, hope, and dignity to the entrepreneurial poor in Colombia” concludes Vanderkooy.
To find out more about DUCA, visit our web site at www@duca.com or call us at 1.866.800.3822.