NH Children's Trust Wins $35K Grant

Late last month, Citizens Bank awarded a $35,000 Champion in Action grant to the New Hampshire Children’s Trust, an organization that helps protect children and families around the Granite State. The organization won the grant in the Strengthening Communities category of the Citizens Helping Citizens Strengthen Communities program. The organization will also receive media coverage, from the New Hampshire Union Leader, as part of the award.

In a statement, Joe Carelli, president of Citizens Bank in New Hampshire and Vermont, noted that 42 nonprofits in the Granite State have won the award since 2002.

“With Champions in Action, we get to, a couple times a year, look at an organization and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to provide you with $35,000, and you can use it in any way you deem necessary to continue your mission,’” Carelli said. “Of course, we know it’s all going to get used incredibly well to support the mission, but it doesn’t have to be specific to a program, and I’ll tell you time and time again that we hear from board and from staff that component of the program is extremely, extremely important.”

For the 2015 grant process, the categories will be Youth Empowerment and Strengthening Communities through Veterans Support. Organizations must be based in New Hampshire and serve the state’s residents, must be nonprofit and be able to verify 501(c)3 status, and have an operating budget of less than $5 million, in order to qualify for the grant.

Organizations have until Aug. 22, to submit applications for consideration online at citizensbank.com/community/champions.

Pictured: Bob Matheson, NH Children’s Trust board of directors chairman; Keryn Bernard-Kriegl, NH Children’s Trust executive director; Shannon Sullivan, Union Leader community relations manager; and Joe Carelli, president and CEO of Citizens Bank. Courtesy