Astoria Federal Savings and Long Island Girl Scouts Distribute School Supplies to Local Children

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., Sept. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Astoria Federal Savings, along with Girl Scouts from Nassau and Suffolk counties, recently distributed school supplies to several school districts, shelters and human service organizations on Long Island and New York City to help disadvantaged children prepare for the upcoming school year. The distribution was part of Astoria's 14^th annual Kids Tools for School collection drive, which took place throughout the month of August at each of its 85 branches in Nassau, Suffolk, Brooklyn, Queens, and Westchester counties.

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"Education is such a vital part of our communities, and we are proud to sponsor programs like Kids Tools for School, which provides school supplies to our neighborhood children in need," said Astoria Federal Savings Executive Vice President Brian Edwards. "We thank our customers and community partners for their overwhelming support and for making this drive a huge success. Together, we are making it a little easier for children from local families to start the school year off right."

In addition to the supplies and cash donated throughout the drive, Astoria provided another $10,000 to purchase additional supplies to be distributed to local children for this school year.

The Girl Scouts from Nassau and Suffolk counties joined forces with Astoria team members to pack and distribute the school supplies at the Village Office Supply warehouse in Farmingdale, NY on August 29, for Distribution Day. Astoria executives presented the Girl Scouts with a special Kids Tools for School patch to show their appreciation for the scouts' assistance.

Over the past 14 years, Astoria has collected and distributed close to 15 tons of backpacks, notebooks, pens, pencils and other school supplies to local students who would otherwise have to start the school year unprepared.

The Kids Tools for School collection drive is part of Astoria's Education First initiative, which includes special savings accounts for students, an annual Teach Children to Save Essay Contest and school outreach programs to promote financial literacy, as well as The First Home Club™ to promote homeownership. These programs and others were all designed to encourage lifelong learning in the communities Astoria Federal serves.

About Astoria Financial Corporation

Astoria Financial Corporation (NYSE: AF), with assets of $16.1 billion, is the holding company for Astoria Federal Savings and Loan Association.  Established in 1888, Astoria Federal, with deposits in New York totaling $10.2 billion, is the largest thrift depository in New York and embraces its philosophy of "Putting people first" by providing the customers and local communities it serves with quality financial products and services through 85 convenient banking office locations and multiple delivery channels, including its enhanced website, www.astoriafederal.com.  Astoria Federal commands the fourth largest deposit market share in the attractive Long Island market, which includes Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk counties with a population exceeding that of 38 individual states.  Astoria Federal originates residential mortgage loans through its banking and loan production offices in New York, a broker network in four states, primarily along the East Coast, and through correspondent relationships covering nine states and the District of Columbia.  Astoria Federal also originates multi-family and commercial real estate loans, primarily on rent controlled and rent stabilized apartment buildings, located in New York City and the metropolitan area.

SOURCE Astoria Federal Savings