Charter One's 'Making Music Matter' program generates more than $100,000 for Chicago Area nonprofit organizations

    /24-7PressRelease/ - CHICAGO, IL, October 13, 2007 - Charter One, a leading Illinois home mortgage lender and provider of checking accounts in Chicago has announced that its "Making Music Matter" program has successfully raised more than $100,000 during the summer-long initiative, which the bank will use to support four local nonprofit organizations that provide access to the arts and music education to Chicagoans of all ages.

Having just concluded its second year, the "Making Music Matter" program collected donations, including musical instruments, at select concerts this past summer at the Charter One Pavilion at Northerly Island. The Illinois bank also offered members of the public the opportunity to contribute to the program at its more than 120 Chicago banking locations throughout the area.

Proceeds and instruments will be given to these 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organizations:

• Boys & Girls Club of Chicago: The Boys & Girls Club of Chicago serves more than 17,500 young people throughout Chicago each year. Funds from "Making Music Matter" will be used to allow more kids to participate in the after-school music program at The Valentine Club in Bridgeport.

• Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras: The Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras is recognized internationally as one of the finest youth orchestras in the United States. Charter One's support will benefit the Music Pathways program, which serves more than 5,000 Chicago Public school students. Concert musicians will be playing instruments that were donated by "Making Music Matter."

• Merit School of Music: The Merit School of Music is recognized nationally as an exemplary community music school that offers comprehensive training to a diverse population of students. Program funds will support the 4,500 students involved in Merit's "Bridges: Partners in Music" initiative, an in-school music education program that began in 1984 in response to requests from Chicago Public Schools, which earlier had eliminated its music curriculum.

• People's Music School: The People's Music School provides free, high quality music instruction and performance opportunities for personal and professional growth, and cultivates an informed and appreciative audience for classical music. The contributions from "Making Music Matter" have enabled the school to purchase glockenspiels, xylophones and other instruments for musical theory classes to support more than 1,000 students.

"Charter One is proud to support the valuable efforts of our partner organizations in bringing musical education to those who might not otherwise have these opportunities," said Scott C. Swanson, president, Charter One, Illinois. "We are grateful to our customers and community members who made donations in our branches and also to the thousands of Charter One Pavilion concert attendees who have made contributions all summer long. With their help, 'Making Music Matter' has continued to truly make a difference in the lives of young people."

About Citizens Financial Group, Inc.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is one of the 10 largest commercial banking companies in the United States ranked by assets and deposits. It is headquartered in Providence, R.I., and, through its subsidiaries, has more than 1,600 branches, more than 3,300 ATMs and more than 24,500 employees. Its 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. CFG provides financial products to individual, small business and commercial banking clients. Specializing in full-service product packages, CFG offers checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, home equity loans, mortgage financing and more. CFG is owned by RBS (The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc). For more information, visit CFG's Web site at www.citizensbank.com.

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