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Umpqua Bank Charitable Foundation Announces First Grants
[September 30, 2014]

Umpqua Bank Charitable Foundation Announces First Grants


PORTLAND, Ore. --(Business Wire)--

Umpqua Bank, a subsidiary of Umpqua Holdings Corporation (UMPQ), today announced the Umpqua Bank Charitable Foundation's first four grants with commitments to organizations in Oregon and Washington State and an education partnership with the State of Oregon.

The Umpqua Bank Charitable Foundation recognizes the integral connection between educational success and economic prosperity. Through targeted investments in organizations focused on children's education and wellbeing, the Foundation works to create economic opportunity for all in the communities Umpqua Bank serves. It was initially funded with $10 million in April 2014 to demonstrate the company's deep commitment to the communities it serves as the West Coast's largest community bank.

"As a community bank, Umpqua Bank's commitment to investing in the communities we serve runs deep - in fact, we believe we have an obligation to give back in meaningful ways," said Ray Davis, president and CEO of Umpqua Bank. "Now, through the Foundation, we'll be able to take our commitment to a new level with larger, multi-year partnerships that advance our ability to help make a difference in the lives of children and families, and our communities' economic wellbeing and success long into the future."

Oregon Education Partnership

Studies show that a child's ability to read by 3rd grade is one of the single-greatest predictors of lifelong success. In partnership with the state of Oregon's Literacy Campaign, stORytime, the Umpqua Bank Charitable Foundation will match community book donations with a goal of putting more than 80,000 books in the homes of families in communities across Oregon. From October 1 through December 15, Umpqua will match every book purchased by the community through the stORytime website, up to $100,000. Donations can be made by going to storytimeoregon.com/books or umpquabank.com, or by visiting any Oregon Umpqua Bank store to learn more.

Initial Grants

With its first four grants, the Umpqua Bank Charitable Foundation is taking a lead role in four pivotal initiatives in Douglas County, Ore., and Spokane County, Wash.

Family Development Center

Through the Foundation's $350,000 grant, Family Development Center will be able to expand its services to serve an additional 75 at-risk children across Douglas County. Family Development Center is focused on providing child abuse and neglect intervention and prevention services to extremely high-risk families. The organization delivers therapeutic early childhood education, training and skill building to parents; and meals, transportation and more for families with children 0-5 years old. The intensive services provided to children at the Family Developmnt Center help ensure children arrive at school ready to learn, which is a critical milestone in their development.



SMART

Children who are proficient readers by the end of third grade are four times more likely to graduate from high school, better positioning them for lifelong economic success. The Foundation's $85,000 grant will allow SMART to expand its reading support to PreK - third-grade students across Douglas County with nine new school and Head Start sites to serve an additional 220 children over a three-year period. In addition, SMART will be able to hire new staff to increase volunteer efforts immediately.


Second Harvest

Research has shown consistently that hungry children are at a distinct disadvantage in school. Through the Foundation's $300,000 grant, Second Harvest will be launching a new program to ensure food security at three low-income elementary schools in Spokane County. By combining access to food over weekends, supplemental food distributions through mobile food banks and in-class snacks, the goal is to positively impact academic success for individual students and the school overall.

Excelerate Success

This unique program uses an innovative model to convene complementary organizations, streamline and leverage existing resources and work toward common outcomes. With the Umpqua Bank Charitable Foundation's grant of $120,000, Excelerate Success will implement strategies - both broad-based, impacting the whole of the county, and targeted tactics focused on three selected schools - to increase kindergarten readiness in Spokane County. The program includes elements ranging from distribution of books to creation of parent support networks.

Ongoing Commitment

Going forward, the Foundation will also fund Umpqua's ongoing Community Giving grants - typically between $2,500 and $10,000 - to organizations focused on youth development and education, community development and arts access. Grants are available to nonprofit organizations in Umpqua's five-state presence in California, Idaho, Northern Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. Organizations can submit an application at www.umpquabank.com/communitygiving; the company's associate-led Community Giving team reviews and approves all grants.

In addition, Umpqua Bank also invests in the communities it serves through its Connect Volunteer Network, which provides every Umpqua associate with up to 40 hours of paid time off each year to volunteer. Since the program's inception, Umpqua associates have volunteered more than 300,000 hours at organizations across the company's footprint, with more than 82% of all associates serving 43,000 hours in 2013 alone.

About Umpqua Bank Charitable Foundation

The Umpqua Bank Charitable Foundation recognizes the fundamental connection between education and economic prosperity. It works to strengthen the communities Umpqua Bank serves by investing in organizations and initiatives that expand access to education and create economic opportunity for children and families.

The Umpqua Bank Charitable Foundation was initially funded with $10 million in April 2014, and was formed to demonstrate the company's deep commitment to the communities it serves.

About Umpqua Bank

Umpqua Bank, headquartered in Roseburg, Ore., is a subsidiary of Umpqua Holdings Corporation, and has locations across Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California and Northern Nevada. Umpqua Bank has been recognized for its innovative customer experience and banking strategy by national publications including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, Fast Company and CNBC. The company has been recognized for the past eight years in a row on FORTUNE magazine's list of the country's "100 Best Companies to Work For," and was recently named by The Portland Business Journal the Most Admired Financial Services Company in Oregon for the ninth consecutive year. In addition to its retail banking presence, Umpqua Bank owns Financial Pacific Leasing, Inc., a nationally recognized commercial finance company that provides equipment leases to small businesses.

Umpqua Holdings also owns a retail brokerage subsidiary, Umpqua Investments, Inc., which offers services through Umpqua Bank stores and in dedicated offices throughout Oregon. Umpqua's Wealth Management Division serves high net worth individuals and nonprofits by providing customized financial solutions and offerings. Umpqua Holdings Corporation is headquartered in Portland, Ore. For more information, visit http://www.umpquabank.com.


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