Applications for Champions in Action Grant Focused on Mental Health and Well-being Now Open

Selected nonprofit will receive $50,000 and promotional and volunteer support in 2025

Rhode Island – August 19, 2024 - Citizens and NBC 10 are now accepting applications for Citizens’ 2025 Champions in Action grant program focused on mental health and well-being. Nonprofits who are delivering and advocating for mental health and well-being services and resources needed to help people achieve their potential are encouraged to apply for the opportunity to receive $50,000 in unrestricted funding from Citizens, media coverage from NBC 10 and volunteer support from Citizens colleagues.

“At Citizens, we understand the importance of mental health and well-being on an individual’s long-term success,” said Michelle Hecht, Head of Corporate Affairs, Citizens. “In this Champions in Action round, we’re looking forward to uplifting valuable nonprofits who are committed to helping people reach their potential by expanding access to mental health and well-being services and resources.”

Applications can be completed online at www.citizensbank.com/champions  and must be submitted by September 13, 2024.

To be eligible for consideration, an organization must:
• Be a RI-based nonprofit organization that provides direct access to mental health services and resources; delivers education and advocacy around mental health and well-being; is actively working to remove barriers to adequate care for the populations they serve; and/or is working to address root causes of mental illness via programming.
• Have a total operating budget between $250,000 and $5 million.
• Be able to provide 1 – 2 volunteer projects, including at least one skills-based volunteer project, for Citizens colleagues to engage in.
Citizens’ Champions in Action program celebrates and supports local nonprofits with operating budgets under $5 million who are creating meaningful and measurable impact in the communities they serve. Twice a year, one nonprofit in each of Citizens’ nine major markets is selected to receive funding, promotional and volunteer support to accelerate programming and services focused on a topic that aligns with one of Citizens’ sustainability and impact focus areas – Driving Positive Climate Impact, Building the Workforce of the Future, and Fostering Strong Communities.

Since the program’s launch 22 years ago, Citizens has awarded more than $11 million in contributions and promotional support to over 380 nonprofits across the bank’s footprint. In Rhode Island alone, 63 nonprofits have been honored, receiving more than $1.8M.

For more information about the Champions in Action program, visit Champions in Action | Be Inspired | Citizens. To learn more about Citizens’ sustainability and impact strategy, visit Sustainability and Impact. 

About Citizens Financial Group, Inc.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest financial institutions, with $219.9 billion in assets as of June 30, 2024. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens offers a broad range of retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutions. Citizens helps its customers reach their potential by listening to them and by understanding their needs in order to offer tailored advice, ideas and solutions. In Consumer Banking, Citizens provides an integrated experience that includes mobile and online banking, a full-service customer contact center and the convenience of approximately 3,300 ATMs and approximately 1,000 branches in 14 states and the District of Columbia. Consumer Banking products and services include a full range of banking, lending, savings, wealth management and small business offerings. In Commercial Banking, Citizens offers a broad complement of financial products and solutions, including lending and leasing, deposit and treasury management services, foreign exchange, interest rate and commodity risk management solutions, as well as loan syndication, corporate finance, merger and acquisition, and debt and equity capital markets capabilities. More information is available at www.citizensbank.com  or visit us on X, LinkedIn or Facebook.

About NBC10
WJAR-TV/DT is the most watched television station in the Providence-New Bedford television market and NBC 10 News is southern New England’s leading news station. WJAR was first launched as a radio station in 1922 and then became the market’s first television station in 1949.