Veterans United Home Loans ranked third best in nation for giving back

February 9, 2017

COLUMBIA, Mo. Veterans United Home Loans announced today it was recognized as one of the 50 Best Workplaces for Giving Back by Great Place to Work® and Fortune. The full-service national lender focuses on VA Home Loans and was chosen as the third highest ranked company on the list. Veterans United's charitable arm, Veterans United Foundation donated more than $6.6 million to charities and organizations in 2016 alone.

The spirit of giving is deeply ingrained within our culture and our core values at Veterans United, said Greg Steinhoff, executive director of Veterans United Foundation. More than 90 percent of our employees donate at least one percent of their paychecks to our foundation. Because of the generosity of our employees, we have been able to raise more than $30 million for our foundation since it was created in 2011 and enhance the lives of Veterans, as well as give back to the communities we live in every day.

Some examples of donations from 2016:

• In December employees from Veterans United surprised charitable organizations in Columbia, Mo. with checks for $10,000 each during its Week of Giving. The organizations included: Rainbow House, Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri, Coyote Hill Christian Children's Home, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Missouri, and True North.
• In December employees from Veterans United donated $50,000 to provide the final piece of fundraising needed to get the Veterans Community Project neighborhood in Kansas City started. The neighborhood will be comprised of tiny houses that will provide transitional housing to homeless Veterans.
• In October Veterans United Foundation donated $100,000 to the Boys and Girls Clubs (BGC) of Columbia, Mo. The donation helped fund the BGC's $2.5 million capital campaign to renovate and expand its current main site.
• In June Veterans United Foundation announced its largest donation to date, a $1.5 million gift to jumpstart the construction of Welcome Home, Inc.'s new emergency homeless shelter for Veterans located in Columbia. The shelter is the only one of its kind in mid-Missouri. The Best Workplaces for Giving Back took into consideration feedback from 350,000 employees across a range of industries, as well as their organizations' charitable programs and giving. These leading workplaces go above and beyond to develop endeavors in giving back that ensure all team members feel they're making a difference in the world. As a result, people at winning workplaces report more pride in their employers and feeling deeper meaning in their day-to-day work. The Best Workplaces for Giving Back are accomplishing something greater than the sum of their contributions to worthy causes. They also offer employees a sense they're part of something bigger that's making a difference in the world, said Chinwe Onyeagoro, president of Great Place to Work®. The Best Workplaces for Giving Back is one of a series of rankings by Great Place to Work® and Fortune based on employee survey feedback from Great Place to Work Certified® organizations. Edward Jones, another Missouri-based company, ranked No. 46 on the list.