Sylvia Bronner, SVP, Public Affairs, Citizens Bank presents check to Bill Clark, President and Executive Director at PHLB on 9/10.

Lucky winners take home special Phillies prizes

PHILADELPHIA – Citizens Bank announced today the names of the seven individuals from the greater Philadelphia area who won special Phillies prizes as part of a raffle to raise money for Philabundance. The winners were selected from fans attending the Citizens Bank Businessperson’s Special games on June 18, July 10 and August 7 who participated in the Phillies Phavorite Raffle to raise money for Philabundance, the area’s largest hunger-relief agency.

During pre-game ceremonies at the September 10 Phillies game against the Florida Marlins, Citizens Bank and Phillies executives presented a check for $31,266.84 to Philabundance. The funds reflect a $25,000 donation made by the Citizens Bank Foundation along with money raised during three collections held at Businessperson’s Specials. 

“We are pleased to present Philabundance with this donation to help children in the greater Philadelphia region get the meals they need to live healthy lives,” said Daniel K. Fitzpatrick, Citizens Bank President and CEO for Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. “We are grateful to our partner, the Philadelphia Phillies, who helped to raise awareness about the initiative and provided several of the wonderful raffle prizes.”

The winners include:

• Joseph "Bo" Nolan of Atlantic City, N.J., who won an autographed Ryan Howard bat.
• Tim Leonard of northeast Philadelphia, who took home a base used during the Phillies April 18 game against the New York Mets.
• John Peters of Springfield, Pa., who a prize pack for the 2004 inaugural season at Citizens Bank Park, including a limited-edition commemorative crystal, a Citizens Bank Park vintage-style commemorative poster autographed by Phillies Legend Greg Luzinski, an Opening Day 2004 official program book and an autographed Mike Lieberthal Plexiglas cutout from the Citizens Bank Games of Baseball Pitch ‘Em and Tip ‘Em speed pitch game in Ashburn Alley.
• Brian Bachman of Myerstown, Pa., claimed a set of nine baseballs autographed by the March 31, 2008 Opening Day starting lineup (includes Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Pedro Feliz, Pat Burrell, Shane Victorino, Jayson Werth, Carlos Ruiz and Brett Myers).
• Lee Luckman of West Chester, Pa., who served as an honorary groundskeeper during the September 10 game and helped to change out third base after the third inning.
• Les Dias of Elkins Park, Pa., who will watch batting practice from the field on September 11.
• Daniel Price, a northeast Philadelphia native who now lives in Patuxent River, Md., who won the lineup card used during the Phillies May 27 game against the Colorado Rockies.

“We are thrilled to join Citizens Bank in this effort to raise money and awareness about the need to help feed children in our area,” said Gene Dias, Director, Community Relations for the Phillies. “We actively encouraged our fans to help support this great cause through the Phillies Phavorite Raffle and we were thrilled to see them walk away with such great prizes.”

“Many children and families need our support to help make ends meet and we are grateful to partner with Citizens Bank and the Phillies to make a difference,” said Bill Clark, Philabundance President and Executive Director. “Philabundance can provide a meal for about 30 cents from the donated food we receive. The generous donation from the Citizens Bank Foundation and the funds collected from Phillies fans will translate into more than 104,000 meals for children in need.”     

Citizens Financial Group, through its subsidiaries, has more than 1,600 branches, 3,500 ATMs and 24,000 employees. 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.  

Philabundance is a non-profit organization fighting hunger and malnutrition in the Delaware Valley.  It was founded in 1984 as a food rescue organization to help ensure that perishable food that otherwise would have gone to waste was instead provided to people in need. Today’s Philabundance is a result of the 2005 integration with the Philadelphia Food Bank. Philadelphia Food Bank was founded in 1980 to be a bridge between those with extra non-perishable food and those without enough. Today, Philabundance provides a full plate of services to more than 600 member agencies and the people they serve.

The 2007 National League East Champion Phillies play baseball at the award-winning Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. For more information go to www.phillies.com.