Providence, RI (March 15, 2005) - Citizens' Chairman and CEO Lawrence K. Fish announced today that Citizens Bank has granted a three month, paid sabbatical to Brook Weisman-Ross, Assistant Vice President in Cash Management at Citizens Bank of Rhode Island to assist in the tsunami relief efforts in Indonesia. Weisman-Ross will volunteer for Plan USA, a non-profit agency deeply involved in the relief efforts, and will assist the government in badly-hit Banda Aceh in Indonesia. He will depart on March 20th.
Weisman-Ross was selected for the sabbatical because of his extensive knowledge of Indonesia, having long been active in the Indonesian community in Rhode Island and abroad. He spent two years living and working in Indonesia prior to joining Citizens in 1998 and is fluent in the language, serving as Citizens' Indonesian language interpreter.
Weisman-Ross will serve with Plan USA as a project manager working directly with ten refugee camps on rehabilitation and reconstruction projects including building housing, schools, health centers, water projects, and other critical infrastructure systems for the communities. Throughout his three months in Indonesia, Weisman-Ross will be sending regular eyewitness updates to his colleagues sharing his experiences. These updates will be featured in the bank's employee newsletter and intranet site.
"Citizens is fortunate to have so many colleagues with such a deep commitment to the community," said Fish. "This sabbatical, combined with the $1 million donation to the relief efforts by our parent company, RBS, will help make a real difference with these relief efforts. We wish Brook the best on his journey serving as Citizens' ambassador to a worldwide need."
When the tsunami hit in December, Weisman-Ross and his wife were returning from vacation in Mexico. He said his first thought was that he should take an unpaid leave of absence to do whatever he could to help with the relief efforts. "My first reaction was that I needed to go there and help, to do something," said Weisman-Ross. "The opportunity to be able to contribute to these relief efforts by having been selected to do this sabbatical is overwhelming. My supervisors, colleagues and the senior management team at Citizens have been so supportive of my willingness and need to go there and help. I am so grateful for this phenomenal opportunity."
The Citizens Bank Community Service Sabbatical program was established in 1994 to offer employees the opportunity to work for three months for a non-profit agency in the communities where Citizens does business.
Citizens has granted sabbaticals to 43 employees over the past ten years. Rhode Island organizations that have benefited from these sabbaticals include: Sophia Academy, Genesis Center, Children's Friend and Service, Blackstone Valley Advocacy Center, Rhode Island Citizenship Collaborative, Cranston Community Action Program, FOCUS, Dorcas Place and Martin Luther King Center / New Visions of Newport County.
Founded in 1937 as Foster Parents Plan, Plan USA is a global partnership of caring people united to bring hope and help to the world's poorest children. Today, Plan is one of the oldest and largest organizations of its kind - Plan's grassroots, self-help programs assist more than 10 million children and their families in poor communities around the world. Plan is best known for its Childreach Sponsorship program, connecting donors with children across the world. Plan is a private, not for profit, and is respectful of local religions and cultures - plan has no agenda other than helping kids. Plan USA is one of 60 countries bearing the renowned Plan Logo.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is a $137 billion commercial bank holding company. It is headquartered in Providence, R.I., and has more than 1,600 branches, approximately 2,800 ATMs and more than 26,000 employees. It operates its 13-state branch network in Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and has non-branch offices in more than 30 states. Citizens is the eighth largest commercial banking company in the United States ranked by deposits. Citizens is owned by RBS (The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc).