Santander Bank Awards More Than $3 Million to 119 Non-Profit Organizations in First Round of Funding for 2018

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Jul 24, 2018, 13:25 ET

BOSTON, July 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Santander Bank today announced that it has donated more than $3 million to 119 non-profit organizations that support low- and moderate-income individuals, families and communities primarily located in its Northeast footprint. The biggest area of focus for this round of funding – the first of three in 2018 – is economic and small business development, with more than $1.1 million allocated to 25 organizations that provide valuable technical assistance and education to aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners.

"Small businesses are instrumental in contributing to the economic health and vibrancy of our communities, which is why we allocated a significant portion of our grant funding to support non-profit organizations that help them grow," said Gwen Robinson, Santander's Director of Corporate Social Responsibility. "We are committed to helping our customers and communities prosper and one way we do this is by supporting organizations that help individuals, families and small businesses succeed and neighborhoods flourish."

The Santander Bank Charitable Contributions Program awards grants in the spring, fall and winter by investing in programs that improve the quality of life for the residents in the neighborhoods where the Bank's customers and colleagues live and work. In addition to supporting economic and small business development, grants from this funding cycle also support affordable housing, community services, financial education and neighborhood revitalization.

Economic and Small Business Development grant recipients from around the Bank's footprint include:

CommonWealth Kitchen - $285,000 to support the development of aspiring entrepreneurs working in the food industry in Greater Boston's low- to-moderate income neighborhoods through Santander's signature philanthropic small business initiative – Cultivate Small Business. The program helps small business owners build and sustain their businesses by providing industry-specific education, networks and mentoring, and small capital grants. CommonWealth Kitchen is one of Santander's strategic partners in the program.
Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship - $46,000 to support an entrepreneurial training program for low- and moderate-income middle and high school students in Philadelphia, including resources to train classroom teachers in the course methodology.

Other large grants awarded during this funding cycle to support affordable housing, community services, financial education, and neighborhood revitalization include:

Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance - $102,200 to assist in furthering the development of permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless adults.
Change Capital Fund - $100,000 to support the next four-year class of grantees comprised of eight to 10 neighborhood anchor institutions whose work will increase economic mobility in NYC's high-poverty neighborhoods.
Greater Boston Latino Network - $50,000 to support increasing network membership, advocacy for Latino leadership, commission report on Latino non-profit organizations and bring diversity to Boston Public Schools.
The Center for New York City Neighborhoods - $100,000 to support the second phase of the Financial Capability Integration program as well as homeowner stabilization services.
Housing and Neighborhood Development Services - $20,000 to support the development of two affordable housing projects in the heart of the Orange neighborhood and provide artist entrepreneurship support services in the Valley Arts District of Orange, NJ.

Non-profit organizations interested in applying for a grant can access Santander's grant application guidelines by visiting the Santander Charitable Contributions Program or sending questions to [email protected]. The second round of grants in 2018 will be awarded in the fall and the third round will be awarded in the winter.

A full listing of charitable grants awarded in the first round of funding for 2018 is available at www.santanderbank.com/us/about/media-center.

Some of the grant recipients were recognized in May when Santander turned the U.S. Small Business Administration's 'National Small Business Week' into a month-long celebration. In addition to donating funding to leading organizations supporting economic and small business development, Santander's Business Banking team donated their personal time to mentor and provide financial education workshops to small business owners and entrepreneurs.

Santander Bank, N.A. is one of the country's largest retail and commercial banks with $74.5 billion in assets. With its corporate offices in Boston, the Bank's approximately 9,600 employees, over 600 branches, more than 2,000 ATMs and 2.1 million customers are principally located in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Madrid-based Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: SAN) – one of the most respected banking groups in the world with more than 125 million customers in the U.S., Europe, and

Latin America. It is managed by Santander Holdings USA, Inc., Banco Santander's intermediate holding company in the U.S. For more information on Santander Bank, please visit www.santanderbank.com.

Santander Holdings USA, Inc. (SHUSA) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Madrid-based Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: SAN) (Santander), one of the most respected banking groups in the world with more than 125 million customers in the U.S., Europe and Latin America. As the intermediate holding company for Santander's U.S. businesses, SHUSA includes six financial companies with approximately 17,000 employees, 5.2 million customers and assets of over $129.2 billion as of March 31, 2018. These include Santander Bank, N.A., one of the country's largest retail and commercial banks by deposits; Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SC), an auto finance and consumer lending company; Banco Santander International of Miami; Banco Santander Puerto Rico; Santander Securities LLC of Boston; and Santander Investment Securities Inc. of New York.