CITIZENS FINANCIAL BANK CELEBRATES TEACH CHILDREN TO SAVE DAY IN HARVEY

HARVEY, IL– May 3, 2010 - Citizens Financial Bank celebrated National Teach Children to Save Day with participation in a program at the Taft Elementary School in Harvey Illinois. The program, Penny Saved, designed by Jana Rettig, Assistant Vice President and Director of the Education Department at Citizens Financial Bank included a reality workshop where children are taught the basics of saving for their future. The seminar was presented to 75 First Grade students by Patricia Thompson, Harvey Banking Center Manager and Patsy Ross from Citizens Financial Bank.

Patricia Thompson, Manager of Citizens Harvey Banking Center explains, “We presented our Penny Saved workshop to the children. This program includes coloring sheets that help children understand the concept of savings.” She continues, “We read a special story about saving with help from the class. We had cut out 100 pennies and made one big strip to follow along with the story.  These pennies were used to show spending versus saving.” Patsy Ross adds, “At the end of the story, the students learned the importance of savings and what happens when you spend instead of save.  We also discussed with the students how do they save and why is savings important .  The kids really came away excited about saving.”

Teach Children to Save Day is a national campaign sponsored by the American Bankers Association that raises awareness about the important role that banks and bankers play in helping young people develop lifelong savings habits. The campaign has reached 3.4 million young people with the help of some 80,000 banker volunteers through its annual awareness day and the Teach Children to Save Web site: www.teachchildrentosave.com.  For 14 years the Teach Children to Save program has partnered banks with students for lessons on the importance of saving.

Citizens Financial Bank, a $1.1 billion dollar independent bank, serves the financial needs of individuals, families and businesses through its network of 23 Banking Centers located throughout Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana. Citizens Financial Bank was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in Munster, Indiana. www.mybankcitizens.com