TD Charitable Foundation Strengthens Local Communities with $13 Million in Financial Support in 2009

CHERRY HILL, N.J. and PORTLAND, Maine,  Jan. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The TD Charitable Foundation, the charitable giving arm of TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank®, recently announced it has contributed $13 million to local community initiatives totaling more than 1,400 grants to community based organizations from Maine to Florida. Since its inception in 2002, the Foundation has donated a total of $56 million.

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In 2009, the TD Charitable Foundation provided funding for affordable housing efforts, and educational and financial literacy initiatives through individual grants and its special grant programs: "Housing for Everyone" and the Non-Profit Training Resource Fund. The Foundation also assisted TD Bank's Summer Reading Program by awarding grants to local school libraries from Maine to Florida during National Library Week.

"The TD Charitable Foundation is committed to making meaningful and positive contributions to our communities. We're dedicated to the support of organizations that strive to improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods as we make a difference together," said Elizabeth Warn, president of TD Charitable Foundation and executive vice president of community development for TD Bank.

The 2009 Housing for Everyone grant competition provided funding for non-profit housing projects that help to stabilize the housing environment in communities where TD Bank does business. A total of $2 million was awarded to 56 non-profits in 12 states, a 33% increase in program awards from 2008.

In 2009, the Foundation donated $3.5 million to support and sustain educational and financial literacy initiatives and programs. To launch TD Bank's 2009 Summer Reading Program, which encourages children to read and teaches them about saving money, the TD Charitable Foundation awarded $500,000 in grants to local school libraries. Through this initiative, one hundred school libraries, primarily in low- to moderate-income areas, received $5,000 grants for new books, technology resources, or to support existing library programs.

The Foundation's Non-Profit Training Resource Fund awarded grants of up to $1,000 to 84 non-profit organizations to support job training, education and professional development opportunities for their employees. In the last three years, 218 grants totaling $192 thousand have been made to strengthen the capacity of non-profit organizations to address community needs.

Over the past year, the Foundation also provided $700,000 to more than 40 United Way agencies and donated nearly $700,000 to food banks from Maine to Florida providing more than 2.6 million meals to those in need.

In 2010, the TD Charitable Foundation will continue to concentrate its giving efforts on affordable housing, and education and financial literacy, with the environment as an additional area of focus.

About the TD Charitable Foundation

The TD Charitable Foundation is the charitable giving arm of TD Bank N.A., which operates as TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank®, and is one of the 15 largest commercial banking organizations in the United States. The Foundation's mission is to serve the individuals, families and businesses in all the communities where TD Bank operates, having made over $56 million in charitable donations since its inception in 2002. The efforts of the Foundation are coordinated locally through TD Bank's community relations departments and are focused on the areas of affordable housing, education and financial literacy, and the environment. More information on the TD Charitable Foundation, including an online grant application, is available at www.TDBank.com.

SOURCE TD Charitable Foundation