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Citizens Financial Group Will Send More Than 50,000 Children Back to School with New Backpacks Filled with School SuppliesPROVIDENCE, R.I. --(Business Wire)-- As part of its commitment to strengthen communities, Citizens Financial Group is helping more than 50,000 students start the school year with new backpacks filled with school supplies through its Gear for Grades program. Citizens began the program in 2003 in response to a need in the community. According to a National Retail Federation survey, the average family with children in kindergarten through high school will spend $670 on supplies. For low-income, at-risk or homeless families, the cost of even basic school supplies can be a burden. Since its inception, the Gear for Grades initiative has helped to send more than 250,000 children back to school with needed school supplies. "With the rising cost of school supplies, the Gear for Grades program helps to ease the financial strain parents face this time of year as they prepare to send their children back to school," said Barbara Cottam, Executive Vice President and Head of Corporate Affairs for Citizens Financial Group. "We are proud to play a small role in contributing to the academic success of so many local children who return to the classroom ready to learn." This August, Citizens Bank and Charter One colleagues will volunteer to fill and distribute backpacks at nonprofit partner sites throughout the bank's 11-state footprint. Customers interested in helping students in their own communities are encouraged to contact the following nonprofit organizations:
About Citizens Financial Group, Inc. Citizens Financial Group Inc. is one of the nation's oldest and largest financial institutions, with $130.3 billion in assets as of June 30, 2014. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, the company offers a broad range of retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutions. Consumer Banking 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 and Charter One 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 selective 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 via subsidiaries Citizens Bank, N.A., and Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania. Additional information about Citizens and its full line of products and services can be found at www.citizensbank.com.
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