MarcAurele named ‘Hometown Hero’

PROVIDENCE – Joseph J. MarcAurele, president of Citizens Bank Rhode Island, was recently awarded the Hometown Hero Award for leading a program in which the bank’s foundation makes donations to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank for every strikeout recorded by a Pawtucket Red Sox pitcher.
The Striking Out Hunger program, a summer-long partnership between Citizens, the PawSox and Cox Communications, is in its third season.
The Hometown Hero award is presented by the PawSox to individuals and organizations that have made contributions to their community.
“We started the Striking Out Hunger program because summer donations to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank are critically low and children who were receiving breakfast and/or lunch at school are home for the summer, which places additional stress on already tight household food budgets,” said MarcAurele.
For each game at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, the Citizens Bank Foundation donates $75 to the food bank each time a batter from the visiting team strikes out, up to $75,000.
The Rhode Island Community Food Bank says it feeds more than 50,000 Rhode Islanders each month through a network of 285 food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and other emergency food programs. The food bank says demand has increase 26 percent since last year.
“As Rhode Island’s economy continues to struggle, and unemployment grows, the need for food assistance has soared,” said Andrew Schiff, chief executive officer of the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. “Thanks to the support of philanthropic organizations like Citizens Bank, Cox Communications and the PawSox, we are able to better meet the nutritional needs of the tens of thousands of Rhode Islanders who seek food assistance each month.”
The Citizens Bank Foundation is a charitable contributions vehicle of Citizens Bank; it focuses on housing, community development and basic human needs. To learn more, visit www.thecitizensfoundation.org.