09/15/2016

Citizens Bank donates $200,000 to the Greater Boston Food Bank to help fight hunger

BOSTON – Citizens Bank today announced that as part of its Citizens Helping Citizens Fight Hunger initiative, it is donating a total of $200,000 to support the Greater Boston Food Bank. More than 80 Citizens Bank volunteers participated as the Bank presented the check to the GBFB in support of Hunger Action Month to provide hunger relief, nutrition assistance, and help improve access to food for families.

“Hunger exists in every community with many families struggling to put food on the table daily,” said Jerry Sargent, President, Citizens Bank, Massachusetts. “The Greater Boston Food Bank does incredible work to help get food to our community neighbors and we are proud to provide them the support to help make this happen. Hunger Action Month should be a call for all of us to start an ongoing and long-term commitment to ending hunger.” 

One out of every nine people in Massachusetts struggle to put food on the table. Hunger affects many in the community and the work of the GBFB is critical to helping address this problem.

“Citizens Bank has been a longtime and dedicated partner to The Greater Boston Food Bank, explained Catherine D’Amato, GBFB President and CEO. Annually, they provide a generous donation that puts them in our President’s Circle of giving, and these funds go directly toward keeping two of our trucks on the road, delivering healthy food across Eastern Massachusetts. The impact of their donation and the overall commitment to our mission to End Hunger Here is tremendous. ”

Citizens Bank has been a long-time supporter of the GBFB, including providing the funding for two refrigerated distribution trucks that help the food bank deliver much-needed food to communities throughout the region. Citizens Bank also recently supported the cause through its Text to Give initiative that encouraged people to donate to the GBFB at a day-long event on The Lawn On D Powered by Citizens Bank.

As part of its Hunger Action Month initiatives Citizens Bank is also providing support to the following organizations:

  • The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts – The Food Bank will use its grant toward the delivery of more emergency food throughout the four counties of Western Massachusetts. Without this delivery service, more than 89,000 people would have limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as perishable foods such as meat, fish, poultry and dairy items.
  • Women’s Lunch Place of Greater Boston – The Lunch Place will use its funding to support its Meals Program which provides women with hearty breakfasts and lunches, Monday through Saturday that improve the physical and emotional well-being of their guests.
  • Merrimack Valley Food Bank – The Food Bank will use its grant for their Food Distribution Program which distributes nearly 3 million pounds of food annually in 33 communities throughout Merrimack Valley.
  • Veteran’s Inc. – Veteran’s Inc. will use its funding to support its food pantry and the food services program which provides veterans and their families with hot meals and nutritious food at two transitional housing locations.
  • Family Pantry of Cape Cod – The Family Pantry will use the donation to help support its Mobile Food Pantry, which delivers food to families throughout the Cape who don’t have access to reliable transportation. 

Citizens Helping Citizens Fight Hunger 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.

To learn more about Citizens Bank, customers can call the 24/7 customer contact center at 1-800-922-9999, like the bank on Facebook, follow the bank on Twitter and Instagram or visit the Citizens Bank website.

About Citizens Financial Group, Inc.

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest financial institutions, with $145.2 billion in assets as of June 30, 2016. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens offers a broad range of retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutions. In Consumer Banking, Citizens helps its retail customers “bank better” with mobile and online banking, a 24/7 customer contact center and the convenience of approximately 3,200 ATMs and approximately 1,200 Citizens Bank branches in 11 states in the New England, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions. Citizens also provides mortgage lending, auto lending, student lending and commercial banking services in select markets nationwide. In Commercial Banking, Citizens offers corporate, institutional and not-for-profit clients a full range of wholesale banking products and services including lending and deposits, capital markets, treasury services, foreign exchange and interest hedging, leasing and asset finance, specialty finance and trade finance. Citizens operates through its subsidiaries Citizens Bank, N.A., and Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania as Citizens Bank, Citizens Commercial Banking and Citizens One. Additional information about Citizens and its full line of products and services can be found at www.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 provides 78% of the hunger-relief food distributed by its 550 member agencies throughout the 190 cities and towns in Eastern Massachusetts. GBFB has as many as 60 direct service programs that provide the highest quality of food and healthy meals for as many as 500,000 people a year in an effort to create a hunger-free Eastern Massachusetts. 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.

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