05/14/2013
Stephanie Bedoya of Citizens Bank selected for Community Service Sabbatical Program
Three-month paid leave benefits Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts
Springfield, Mass (May 14, 2013) – Citizens Bank today announced Stephanie Bedoya, Retail Banker from Springfield, Mass., as the most recent colleague to embark on a paid three-month Community Service Sabbatical. The program celebrated its 100th sabbatical placement in 2012 and has generated more than 48,000 volunteer hours valued at more than $1 million for partnering nonprofit organizations since 1994. Bedoya is spending the next three months “on loan” to the Girls Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts.
The Community Service Sabbatical program is a part of Citizens Helping Citizens Give, the bank’s program for volunteerism and colleague charitable giving. The Sabbatical program was introduced as a way to support the community and the volunteer efforts of Citizens Bank colleagues. Through this signature program, colleagues bring a variety of professional skills and expertise that benefit the local nonprofit organizations where they work as full-time volunteers during a three-month paid leave of absence from the bank.
“Community service is one of our core values at Citizens Bank and we know from our colleagues that the opportunity to bond with a community organization is often a reason they join the bank,” said Jerry Sargent, President, Citizens Bank and RBS Citizens, Massachusetts. “Our colleagues who have completed sabbaticals tell us that it is a life-changing experience that brings a newfound perspective to their life and career. We congratulate Stephanie on her sabbatical and are confident she is making the most of this opportunity to make a difference in her local community.”
During her Community Service Sabbatical, Bedoya is helping to create financial literacy themed programs utilizing the existing Girl Scout financial literacy badges. She is also working to develop an adult training curriculum to help Girl Scout leaders work with their troops in an age-appropriate manner around money. Citizens Bank Foundation recently awarded the Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts a $10,000 grant to help implement Financial Literacy for Girls, an after-school program that helps Brownie and Junior Girl Scouts from low- to moderate-income families in Springfield and Worcester gain practical experience with managing money and setting financial goals.
“Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts is thrilled to have Stephanie with us for the important work of teaching financial literacy to girls,” said Pattie Hallberg, CEO of Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts. “We look forward to strengthening our financial literacy program for girls with the support of Citizens Bank and with Stephanie’s financial expertise.”
Citizens Helping Citizens Give is part of the bank’s broader Citizens Helping Citizens program addressing five key areas: hunger, housing, economic development, financial education and volunteerism. Get more information about Citizens Bank’s community initiatives online.
About Citizens Helping Citizens
Grounded in the belief that a good bank gives back to its community and to the people who live there, Citizens Helping Citizens is a program embracing the community goals of RBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc. – the commercial bank holding company serving consumer and small business customers as Citizens Bank and Charter One and commercial banking customers as RBS Citizens. The Citizens Helping Citizens program comprises five key initiatives supported directly by RBSCFG and also by its nonprofit charitable foundations, the Citizens Charitable Foundation, the Citizens Bank Foundation and the Charter One Foundation: Citizens Helping Citizens Fight Hunger, Citizens Helping Citizens Provide Shelter, Citizens Helping Citizens Strengthen Communities (economic development), Citizens Helping Citizens Teach Money Management (financial education) and Citizens Helping Citizens Give (volunteerism and colleague charitable donations). Across all of these initiatives, Citizens Helping Citizens strives to enhance quality of life and economic vitality in local communities.
About the 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 47 branches and 125 ATMs in Connecticut. It has 24 branches and 52 ATMs in Delaware. It has 252 branches and 754 ATMs in Massachusetts. It has 80 branches and 202 ATMs in New Hampshire. It has 157 branches and 373 ATMs in New York. It has 82 branches and 190 ATMs in Rhode Island. It has 21 branches and 40 ATMs in Vermont.
RBS Citizens, N.A., is a subsidiary of RBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc., a $126 billion commercial bank holding company. It is headquartered in Providence, R.I., and through its subsidiaries has approximately 1,400 branches, approximately 3,600 ATMs and approximately 19,000 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
