Thursday, November 10, 2011 6:00 am

For the second year in a row, FirstBank has joined with the Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation (SHCPF), the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) and the American Bankers Association (ABA) to ensure that 40,000 Veterans living in 160 state Veteran nursing homes in the U.S. are able to live out their lives in safe, secure, enhanced quality of life environments free from the daily fear of crime, abuse, neglect, hostility and deprivation of personal freedom, as provided through the Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation’s Senior Crimestoppers program.

“FirstBank is proud to support this important initiative and to show our appreciation to our Veterans for their service,” said Suzanne Reed, SVP, Sales and Marketing.  

“Protecting our nation’s 40,000 elderly veterans living in long-term care is a need that must be addressed, and I can’t think of a better way to get this done than by asking every bank in the country to allocate a portion of their annual Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) budget to securing the Foundation’s successful Senior Crimestoppers program,” said SHCPF Chairman, President & CEO Peter K. Gwaltney.

 “America’s servicemen and women dedicate their lives to ensuring our freedom and making our country a safer place to live.  Our nation’s more than 8,000 community banks are proud to call many of these Veterans customers and serve them in cities and towns throughout Main Street America,” said Gary Teagno, president and CEO of the Services Network for the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA).  “ICBA is pleased to support this important effort that will provide our Veterans with peace of mind, safety and security.”  

The Senior Crimestoppers program is a proprietary operation of the SHCPF, a national organization which was established to provide a vehicle for banks to earn CRA credit through support of nursing home residents, who are classified as low-to-moderate income individuals.