08/21/2013

Citizens Bank and NBC 10 now accepting applications for Champions in Action program

Two nonprofits will each receive $35,000 grant and media exposure in 2014

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (August 22, 2013) – Citizens Bank and NBC 10 today announced the categories for the 2014 Champions in Action® program, which provides financial, volunteer and public relations support to local nonprofits. Youth Programming and Strengthening Communities through Family Support are the two focus areas for 2014.

Nonprofit organizations focused on youth programming are invited to apply for the Champions award to be announced in January. Applications can be completed online at www.citizensbank.com/community/champions and must be submitted by Friday, September 20, 2013, at 5 p.m. The Champions in Action program is part of Citizens Helping Citizens Strengthen Communities, the bank's program designed to enhance quality of life and economic vitality in local communities. Launched in 2002, Champions in Action is a joint initiative of Citizens Bank and NBC 10 to recognize and support nonprofit organizations for their contributions to Rhode Island communities. To date, the program has given 41 nonprofits more than $1 million in grants and promotional support in Rhode Island. The selected Champion in Action will receive:

  • An unrestricted $35,000 grant from the Citizens Charitable Foundation;
  • Coverage from NBC 10, including public service announcements and TV profiles;
  • Volunteer support from Citizens Bank and NBC 10 colleagues;
  • Public relations support;
  • Promotional support, including advertising in Citizens Bank branches, on Citizens Bank ATMs, and on the Citizens Bank and NBC 10 websites;
  • The opportunity for the organization's executive director to participate in a “president-to-president" mentorship with Citizens Bank and RBS Citizens, Rhode Island President Ned Handy.

To be eligible for consideration, an organization must:

  • Be a Rhode Island-based nonprofit organization that serves Rhode Island and addresses the designated social concern;
  • Provide verification of tax-exempt status under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code; and
  • Have a total operating budget of $5 million or less.

For more information about the Champions in Action program, visit www.citizensbank.com/community.

Citizens Helping Citizens Strengthen Communities 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 is composed of five key initiatives supported directly by RBSCFG and 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 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 82 branches and 190 ATMs in Rhode Island.

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, more than 3,600 ATMs and nearly 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.

About NBC 10
WJAR-TV/DT is the most watched television station in the Providence-New Bedford television market and NBC 10 News is Southern New England's leading news station. WJAR was first launched as a radio station in 1922 and then became the market's first television station in 1949. WJAR-TV/DT is owned by Media General, Inc.

About Media General
Media General is a leading provider of news, information and entertainment across 18 network-affiliated broadcast television stations and their associated digital media and mobile platforms. The company's stations serve consumers and advertisers in strong local markets, primarily in the Southeast. Media General's network affiliates include eight NBC stations, eight CBS stations, one ABC station and one CW station. Six of the company's stations operate in the Top 40 markets in the United States. Media General's stations reach more than one-third of TV households in the Southeast and more than 8 percent of U.S. TV households. Media General entered the television business in 1955 when it launched WFLA-TV in Tampa, Florida, as an NBC affiliate. Today, WFLA is the company's largest TV station, operating in the 14th largest DMA in the United States.