PROVIDENCE, RI -- Citizens Bank is helping 14,000 students start the school year with new backpacks filled with school supplies through its Gear for Grades program in partnership with Back to School Celebration of RI.
More than 12,000 pounds of pencils, pens, folders, notebooks, glue sticks and index cards were donated by the public in all 82 branches across Rhode Island. Gear for Grades was organized in partnership with Back to School Celebration of RI, 92 PRO-FM and Coast to Coast Promotional Products.
According to a National Retail Federation survey, the average American family spent $688.62 in 2012 on back-to-school expenses. For low-income, at-risk or homeless families, the cost of even basic school supplies can be a burden.
"With the rising cost of school supplies, the Gear for Grades program helps to ease the financial strain parents face this time of year as they prepare to send their children back to school," said Ned Handy, President, Citizens Bank and RBS Citizens, Rhode Island.
The backpacks were distributed to children at 11 different locations statewide on August 17.