Each Veterans Day, RBC Wealth Management senior leaders join Texas region employees to make more than 500 phone calls to thank veteran and active duty military clients for their service.
A simple “thank you” can go a long way.
That’s why every Veterans Day since 2015, RBC Wealth Management employees in the Texas area put their work day on pause to extend heartfelt thanks to every single client in their region who has served their country or is an active duty member of the military.
The annual appreciation campaign was spearheaded by Andy Teller, RBC Wealth Management’s regional director in Texas, who gathers the names of every veteran and active duty military client and family member in the Texas region so they can receive a special surprise on Veterans Day.
The surprise is small but meaningful: a simple, unscripted phone call expressing gratitude for their service and reminding them they are being thought of on Veterans Day.
“Many of the people we call are very humble, and even shy, about their service,” Teller says. “They feel they’re not deserving of attention if they weren’t deployed overseas or didn’t fight in battle. That’s simply not true. We make these calls to show veterans that they are all valued, and we respect everyone’s service. It is a genuine honor and privilege to thank them each for protecting our freedom.”
With more than 500 calls to be made in a single day, Teller knows he and his immediate team can’t make them all, so he recruits the firm’s executives and senior leadership from all around the country to help with the cause. Each person is tasked with making around five calls, with some making as many as 20.
The calls go to people in all stages of life. One year, Teller spoke with a 93-year-old World War II veteran, as well as an 18-year-old who had just finished boot camp in the Marines. “I was moved nearly to tears by each conversation,” he says. “We get as much or more out of these phone calls as the veterans do.”
RBC Wealth Management Texas employees call veteran and active duty military clients and family members to thank them for their service.
Michael Armstrong, CEO, RBC Wealth Management–U.S., is one of several senior executives who have participated in the campaign. “I am very proud of the work our colleagues in the Texas area have done to thank our veterans,” Armstrong says. “I’ve been a part of this initiative since I started at the firm in 2016, and it is always a pleasure and an honor to speak with the people who have sacrificed so much for our country.”
In addition to the phone calls, the Texas region makes a donation of $10 on behalf of each veteran to paws4vets, a nonprofit that trains and places customized assistance dogs with injured veterans and active-duty service members. Since 2018, $20,000 has been donated to the organization as a result of the Veterans Day campaign.
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