12/19/2013
Citizens Bank Foundation delivers $15,000 to help create a “Greener Hudson Valley”
Grant supports RUPCO initiatives on green housing
Kingston, N.Y. – The Citizens Bank Foundation announced today that it has donated $15,000 to RUPCO for its “Outreach and Action for a Greener Hudson Valley” program, designed to reduce the energy demand in New York, cut energy costs for low- and moderate-income households, reduce the carbon footprint of Hudson Valley communities, and promote education on everything from changing habits to housing retrofits for savings in energy costs. The grant is part of the Foundation’s “Citizens Helping Citizens Provide Shelter” initiative.
“Affordable Housing has long been a priority giving area of the Citizens Bank Foundation,” said James P. Gaspo, president of Citizens Bank and RBS Citizens, New York. “One way to keep homes affordable is to make them more energy efficient. We are pleased that this grant will assist RUPCO in educating residents on ways to make their homes more energy efficient and directing them to the resources that will enable them to implement energy efficiency improvements in their properties.”
With the grant, RUPCO plans to further its reach into all underserved communities with a special emphasis on outreach services and program materials to be developed in Spanish and delivered to Spanish speaking populations.
“We are grateful to have Citizens Bank Foundation’s continued financial support and participation in the Greener Hudson Valley program,” said Kevin O’Connor, Chief Executive Officer of RUPCO. “We are proud of everything RUPCO does to be greener and more sustainable and to have been honored for those efforts by two major, national organizations – HUD and NeighborWorks America. This support from the Citizens Bank Foundation further demonstrates the importance of this work. Through this initiative, we are working to implement strategies for homeowners and for renters to make their homes more energy efficient, and therefore more affordable, and developing new job opportunities for residents in our communities in the fast-growing green construction sector.”
Citizens Helping Citizens Provide Shelter 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 at www.citizensbank.com/community.
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.
