Last November, Guild Mortgage formed the Guild Giving Foundation to encourage volunteerism, support financial literacy, deliver on the commitment to provide shelter and inspire positive change in communities across the United States. Because of the hard work driven by employee passion, the Guild Giving Foundation is already giving back to communities in meaningful ways.

In February of this year, the Foundation launched its first annual scholarship program, awarding 10 collegiate scholarships in the amount of $1,500 in the communities we serve. Employees, community members and customers were eligible to apply. All applications were reviewed by a third party administrator. Our award winners came from schools in Alabama, California, Colorado, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington. We look forward to opening up this opportunity again in January 2018.

In August, the Foundation created a Disaster Relief Fund to aid employees and their families victimized by the hurricanes. During that month, we matched any dollar amount contributed by employees. We continued these efforts into the fall when California began to suffer from intense wildfires. Moving forward, we are again continuing these efforts to help employees experiencing crises such as natural disasters or illness.

A few weeks ago, our Guild Giving Foundation hosted the first-annual San Diego Golf Tournament & Dinner to benefit three local charities: The Monarch School, Urban Corps of San Diego County and the San Diego Rescue Mission. The inaugural event was held at the Rancho Bernard Inn on Oct. 4 and included a round of golf, a charity auction and a dinner social. Our business partners, vendors and community members pledged sponsorship, contributed auction items, participated in golf or donated other resources. We had an incredible turnout and were able to raise funds for three local, worthy charities.