WESTERLY, R.I. - (Business Wire) The Washington Trust Company
’s eighth annual
“PB Xpress
” peanut butter drive brought in a record 26,044 pounds, or 13 tons, of peanut butter to help those served by the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. This year
’s drive topped last year
’s record of 12 tons. Since the program began in 2001, the Bank has collected a total of 57 tons of peanut butter.
Washington Trust, and media partner LiteRock 105, received participation from more than 180 businesses, schools and organizations which helped collect peanut butter throughout the month of March. Many of the businesses and school held internal competitions between departments or classrooms, and awarded prizes to the winners. Radio station LiteRock 105’s Tanya Cruise promoted the drive on-air during March and appeared at Washington Trust’s Cranston branch on Saturday, April 5, for a “PB Xpress” drop off day. Four and a half tons of peanut butter was collected during the three hour event.
“Washington Trust is grateful to its fellow community businesses, organizations and schools for helping us collect 13 tons of peanut butter to help fight hunger in Rhode Island,” said John C. Warren, chairman and CEO of Washington Trust. “The Rhode Island Community Food Bank is a valuable resource and we are happy to support their mission to provide quality food to those in need.”
“The community’s response to this year’s Washington Trust PB Xpress was absolutely incredible,” commented Andrew Schiff, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. “As we approach the summer months, a time of year when we experience increased need as children are out of school, this protein-rich peanut butter could not have come at a better time. The Food Bank is incredibly thankful to Washington Trust, LiteRock 105 and everyone who donated to help meet the goal,” finished Schiff.
The Washington Trust Company is a subsidiary of Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc., a $2.5 billion corporation headquartered in Westerly, Rhode Island. Founded in 1800, Washington Trust is the largest independent bank and the oldest community bank in the nation, headquartered in Rhode Island. A state-chartered bank, Washington Trust offers a full range of financial services, including business banking, personal banking, and wealth management and trust services, through its offices located in Rhode Island, southeastern Connecticut and Massachusetts. The Corporation’s common stock trades on The NASDAQ Stock Market under the symbol WASH. Web site address: www.washtrust.com.
The Rhode Island Community Food Bank is a non-profit organization located in Providence, R.I. The Food Bank solicits stores and distributes food products donated by supermarkets, wholesalers, food processors, local farmers and community food drives. The food is then distributed to the Food Bank’s network of over 300 member agency programs. In the past fiscal year, the Food Bank distributed 8.4 million pounds of food. For more information about the Food Bank, please visit www.rifoodbank.org.
The Washington Trust Company
Charlene P. Davenport, 401-348-1363
Public Relations Officer
cpdavenport@washtrust.com
