Once again, City National Bank has been a proud sponsor of the CSUN Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Clinic, having donated $20,000 in 2016 to help reach out and serve CSUN students and low- to moderate-income individuals in the community. Thanks to its financial support, City National Bank has helped the CSUN VITA Clinic to encourage individuals to take advantage of the clinic’s free services. Headquartered in Los Angeles, City National Bank provides financial banking, investing and trust-related services in the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles regions. Known for being deeply committed to corporate social responsibility, in 2015 City National’s donations to Los Angeles County organizations exceeded $3.5 million. Nationwide, the bank’s donations totaled approximately $5.1 million.
City National Bank representative and Community Reinvestment Officer Theresa Don Lucas deeply believes in VITA’s mission. “By supporting the CSUN VITA Clinic, we hope to foster healthy communities, strengthen local neighborhoods and encourage economic and community development,” she said. “It’s a commitment that goes beyond offering financial products; simply put, we are committed to helping our communities.” The collaborative efforts between City National Bank and the CSUN VITA Clinic have proven extremely productive this year. The clinic embarked on an outreach campaign to serve many more CSUN students and taxpayers in the community. With nearly 40,000 students enrolled on campus this year, many students are eligible to receive free tax preparation services from the CSUN VITA Clinic.Moreover, since a sizeable number of CSUN students are working part or full time, many of them are eligible to receive the Earned Income Tax Credit. Many are also eligible to receive relief from tuition costs by claiming various educational tax credits. With the support of City National Bank, the CSUN VITA Clinic has managed to more than double the number of CSUN students served. In 2016, the clinic helped 600 CSUN students prepare returns; that number rose to more than 1,587 students in 2017. While CSUN students make up a large number of taxpayers served at the CSUN campus, many are non-student residents of local neighborhoods.
