To mark its one hundred and fiftieth anniversary, global banking giant HSBC has announced a three-year, $150 million initiative in support of local charities and community projects around the globe.

Based on votes from more than fifty thousand HSBC employees, more than a hundred and forty nonprofit organizations working in three issue areas — young people and their education, medical welfare and research, and the environment and wildlife — have been selected to receive grants. The funding is in addition to the $114 million a year HSBC awards to community investment programs.

"We are delighted to mark our one hundred and fiftieth anniversary with this additional $150 million community fund," said HSBC Group chair Douglas Flint. "As a business, we believe that education, medical welfare, and resources such as safe water and sanitation are essential to resilient communities, which are, in turn, the basis of thriving economies and businesses."