To Whom It May Concern:

On behalf of Citizens Bank, Rhode Island Recycling for Education and the recipients of backpacks, I would like to thank all our customers and colleagues who helped make our fourth annual "Tools for School" drive such an incredible success.

More than 10,000 pounds of new school supplies were collected at our branches and operations centers across Rhode Island. With your help, 12,000 new backpacks were distributed to Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCAs and non-profit organizations across Rhode Island.

The thank you phone calls and letters Citizens has received are very similar. All tell us how excited the children were to receive the backpacks and said without this program, so many of them would have returned to school without the tools they need to succeed. We personally delivered many of these backpacks and it was extremely rewarding to see the smiling faces of the children receiving them.

We appreciate your generosity more than you know. Our colleagues and customers are some of the most loyal, dedicated and generous people around. You continue to help make a difference time and again in the lives of thousands of children across the state. Thank you.

Kathleen Samways Administrative Co-Director Recycling for RI

Joseph J. MarcAurele Chairman, President and CEO Citizens Bank of Rhode Island Education

Pictured from left to right: Citizens Bank Lincoln Branch Assistant Manager John Schondek, Lincoln residents Gerald, William, Robert and Skyla McNally and Co-Director of Administration for Rhode Island Recycling for Education, Kathleen Samways

Citizens Bank Lincoln Branch Assistant Manager John Schondek and Co-Director of Administration for Rhode Island Recycling for Education, Kathleen Samways recently distributed backpacks to schoolchildren at the MacColl Field YMCA as part of Citizens’ Tools for School program. The program is a joint effort with Rhode Island Recycling for Education to collect new school supplies at Citizens Bank branches across Rhode Island for children to take back to school. Citizens purchased more than 12,000 backpacks, stuffed them with the donated school supplies and distributed them to Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCAs and community groups throughout the state. MacColl Field YMCA received 100 backpacks.