11/20/2012
Citizens Bank donates 100,000 meals to The Greater Boston Food Bank, launches online campaign to generate 100,000 more for the holidays
Customers and members of the public encouraged to donate additional meals for the holiday season
BOSTON – To help feed thousands of individuals and families in eastern Massachusetts this holiday season, Citizens Bank today announced it is donating 100,000 meals to The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) and launching an online and social media campaign to double that support through additional donations from the public.
To participate in the donation drive and support The Greater Boston Food Bank’s effort to feed families throughout the holidays, members of the public are invited to make donations directly to GBFB now through December 22, 2012 by visiting www.gbfb.org/citizensbank.
“We know from our friends at The Greater Boston Food Bank that many of our neighbors are working hard, but they have stretched their budgets paying for rent and other expenses, leaving them without enough money to buy nutritious food,” said Jerry Sargent, President, Citizens Bank and RBS Citizens, Massachusetts. “We want to thank our customers and the public in advance for helping us feed those in our community who need a little extra help this holiday season.”
To encourage participation in the campaign, Citizens Bank will be driving awareness and engagement on Twitter. The bank will also use Facebook to share the call to action and encourage donations from the public.
Since 2001, Citizens Bank and the Citizens Bank Foundation have assisted GBFB in distributing more than 1.1 million meals to individuals and families in need across eastern Massachusetts. The Citizens Bank Foundation is currently funding a GBFB 26-foot refrigerated truck that has enhanced its ability to respond to increased community need through distribution of nutritious food to 550 member agencies in 190 Massachusetts cities and towns. Citizens Bank colleagues have volunteered more than 500 hours at GBFB since 2010.
The bank’s community efforts are designed to provide local neighborhoods with tools and support to drive economic vitality across the bank’s 12-state footprint. In 2011 colleagues throughout the bank donated more than 32,000 volunteer hours to local nonprofit organizations. Colleagues also contributed more than $1 million in personal donations that were matched dollar for dollar as part of the company’s Matching Gifts program.
Other Citizens Bank initiatives include partnering with groups focused on the construction of homes, as well as teaching job skills, and helping to revitalize local neighborhoods.
To learn more about Citizens Bank’s community efforts and this campaign, visit www.citizensbank.com/fighthunger.
About Citizens Bank
Citizens Bank is a division of RBS Citizens, N.A., operating its seven-state branch network in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. It has 83 branches and 192 ATMs in Rhode Island.
RBS Citizens, N.A., is a subsidiary of RBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc., a $132 billion commercial bank holding company. It is headquartered in Providence, R.I., and through its subsidiaries has more than 1,400 branches, approximately 3,600 ATMs and approximately 18,950 colleagues. Its two bank subsidiaries are RBS Citizens, N.A., and Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania. They operate a 12-state branch network under the Citizens Bank brand in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Charter One brand in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. RBSCFG has non-branch retail and commercial offices in more than 30 states. RBSCFG is owned by RBS (the Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc). RBSCFG’s website is citizensbank.com.
About The Greater Boston Food Bank
The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) is the largest hunger-relief organization in New England and among the largest food banks in the country. GBFB distributes nearly 41 million pounds of food and grocery products annually to 550 member hunger-relief agencies and more than 30 direct service programs throughout eastern Massachusetts in a dedicated partnership to end hunger in our region. This provides meals for as many as 545,000 people a year. GBFB is a member of Feeding America, the nation's food bank network. For more information, visit us at GBFB.org, become a fan on Facebook, follow us on Twitter (@gr8bosfoodbank), or call us at 617.427.5200.
