Citizens Bank, Connecticut names The Diaper Bank as Champion in Action

Agency receives $25,000 grant, volunteer and promotional support

New London, Ct.       (October 16, 2008) - Citizens Bank, Connecticut has announced that The Diaper Bank, an organization dedicated to ensuring that families living in need have an adequate supply of diapers for their infants and toddlers, has been named its Champion in Action^® for the fourth quarter of 2008 in the area of community health care.

The award was announced by Rich Barry, president, Citizens Bank, Connecticut during an on-air segment during the noon newscast on WTNH earlier today. The award includes a $25,000 grant from the Citizens Bank Foundation.

“Citizens Bank is very excited to be working with The Diaper Bank and we look forward to supporting its critical work of supplying a basic – yet sadly unmet – need for children living in poverty. By providing families with diapers, The Diaper Bank is creating healthy and productive lifestyles for thousands of babies and families in our community,” said Barry.

The Diaper Bank is a New Haven- based agency that advocates for policy reform to have diapers included in the legal definition of the basic human needs of families. In addition to supplying hundreds of thousands of diapers to families, The Diaper Bank is also raising community awareness about other basic human needs which are not being met for children living in poverty.

The Diaper Bank centralizes the fundraising and distribution of free diapers to families in need through existing service providers, including local food pantries, soup kitchens, daycare centers, social service agencies and shelters. Through its extensive Diaper Distribution Network of more than 50 agencies, The Diaper Bank provides more than 140,000 diapers per month to low-income families in New Haven, Bridgeport and Hartford.
 
Champions in Action is a partnership between Citizens Bank and WTNH / MyTV 9 launched in 2002 to provide financial support and public awareness to the nonprofit organizations that work every day to champion change in our communities.

Each quarter, a nonprofit organization among a range of social service topics in Connecticut is recognized as a Champion in Action. Each champion in action receives the following support in addition to the $25,000 grant from the Citizens Bank Foundation:
• Media coverage from News Channel 8/MyTV9, including public service announcements.
• Volunteer support from both Citizens Bank and News Channel 8/MyTV9.
• Public relations support; and promotional support through visibility at Citizen Bank branches and citizensbank.com.

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 51 branches and 60 ATMs in Connecticut.

RBS Citizens, N.A. is a subsidiary of Citizens Financial Group, Inc., a $161 billion commercial bank holding company headquartered in Providence, R.I. CFG’s two bank subsidiaries are RBS Citizens, N.A. and Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania. They operate a 13-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, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. CFG has non-branch retail and commercial offices in about 40 states. It is one of the 10 largest commercial banking companies in the United States ranked by assets and deposits. CFG is owned by RBS (The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc).