Citizens Bank and WMUR-TV to provide $25,000 grant, PR and volunteer support

Manchester, N.H. – Citizens Bank New Hampshire and WMUR-TV have named Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Nashua (BBBS) as its 2008 third quarter Champion in ActionSM in the area of youth programming. As part of the award, Big Brothers Big Sisters will receive a $25,000 grant, media coverage, and extensive promotional and volunteer support for its dedication to making a positive difference in the lives of at-risk children in the Greater Nashua area. 

“Citizens Bank is pleased to join WMUR-TV in naming Big Brothers Big Sisters as its newest Champion in Action,” said Cathleen A. Schmidt, President, Citizens Bank, New Hampshire. “By providing financial, marketing, and volunteer support, we can assist these Champions in taking a big step forward in advancing their programs and services. The mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Nashua is to develop one-to-one mentoring relationships between caring, committed volunteers and children who are in need of a positive role model.  We are proud to recognize their efforts and help them succeed.”

The Champions in Action^SM program is designed to recognize and support non-profit organizations for their contributions to New Hampshire communities. A new Champion in Action is selected each quarter among a range of social service areas.

“We continue to be extremely proud to share in this initiative with Citizens Bank," said Jeff Bartlett, General Manager of WMUR-TV. “We are very pleased to help out organizations across the state which demonstrate such a strong community commitment, and make a difference in the lives of so many New Hampshire residents. They truly are champions.”

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Nashua is being recognized for:

• 25 years of continued success as a life changing mentoring program.  Children who participate in the program significantly improve their academic and social skills as well as their emotional development.  In fact,

•  58% achieve higher grades
• 60% showed improved relations with adults.
• 62% were more likely to trust their teachers.
  

•  Support of at-risk children in 13 New Hampshire towns through three effective support programs designed to fit their emotional and social needs.

• The Community Based Mentoring Program carefully matches screened volunteer mentors with Little Brothers and Little Sisters in a variety of settings, and the two spend quality time together.
• The Site Based Mentoring Program utilizes the child’s lunch period or time after school with a venue for Little and Big to meet.  Time is spent doing homework, enjoying lunch, playing games or outdoors on the playground. This program is especially valuable to the mentees as well as the High School student volunteers.  This relationship provides positive role models to at risk children while having a reciprocal effect on volunteers by providing the concept of community responsibility. 
• Mentoring Children of Prisoners Program (MCP) matches children of incarcerated parents with volunteer mentors. Big Brothers Big Sisters works in partnership with schools and correctional facilities to identify children so that they can proactively work to provide positive emotional and social support.
  

• Participation in two new community programs.

• Power of an hour is a mentoring program in the Nashua North High School for children entering the 9th and 10th grade who are at risk of dropping out of high school.  In its first year, 15 children enrolled in the program and many continued their participation with the goal of ultimately graduating high school.
• 21st Century Extended Day Program is an after school academic enrichment program in five of the inner city schools surrounding Nashua. In collaboration with 21st Century, Big Brothers Big Sisters provides high school mentors for children looking for help with homework or just simply a friend to talk to.
  

Big Brothers Big Sisters provides these mentoring programs to the children living in Amherst, Brookline, Derry, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, Londonderry, Merrimack, Milford, Mont Vernon, Nashua, Wilton, and Windham.

As a Champion in Action, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Nashua will receive:

• A $25,000 contribution in unrestricted funds from the Citizens Bank Foundation.
• Media coverage from WMUR-TV, including public service announcements and television profiles.
• Volunteer support from Citizens and WMUR-TV employees.
• Extensive public relations support.
• Promotional support, highlighting the current “Champion in Action” in all Citizens Bank branches and on its ATMs.
• Exposure on both Citizens Bank and WMUR-TV Web sites.
  

“We are honored to be recognized by Citizens Bank and WMUR-TV as a Champion in Action,” said Joy Barrett, Chief Executive Officer, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Nashua. “This award will immediately provide our agency with the resources to increase our capacity to serve more children with a positive role model.  Our goal is to provide an early intervention approach to prevent the risk factors that lead to early parenthood, alcohol and drug abuse, and dropping out of school. Mentoring – especially the model that we use of providing support for hundreds of children, families and volunteer mentors for the lengths of the relationship -- is a proven successful approach.  This award will enable us to meet the growing demand for our mentoring programs and ultimately help change the lives of many children in our community.” 

A non-profit organization supporting arts and culture will be named for the fourth quarter Champion in Action in October 2008. 

For more information about the Champions in Action program, visit www.citizensbank.com or www.WMUR.com. To learn more about Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Nashua visit www.bbbsnashua.org or call (603) 883-4851. Big Brothers Big Sisters is located at 33 Main Street, Suite 501, Nashua, NH 03064.


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 78 branches and 164 ATMs in New Hampshire.

RBS Citizens, N.A. is a subsidiary of Citizens Financial Group, Inc., a $159 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). CFG’s Web site is citizensbank.com.  

About WMUR-TV
WMUR-TV (Ch. 9) is an ABC-TV affiliate headquartered in Manchester, N.H., and is owned and managed by Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc., one of the nation's largest television station groups. WMUR-TV is New Hampshire's largest commercial TV station, reaching more than a million people. Founded in 1954, the station's news, feature and sports coverage has won numerous awards for professional and journalistic excellence. WMUR-TV is considered the broadcast news source of record for New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation presidential primary election. WMUR-TV provides online news and information at www.WMUR.com