Citizens gives $10K to Jonnycake Center

By Rebecca Keister
PBN Staff Writer

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – Citizens Bank has donated $10,000 to the Jonnycake Center, which provides assistance to families in need of food, clothing, and household items, to help with the center’s Hurricane Sandy relief efforts and client service programs.

A portion of the donation will be used to replace a food pantry freezer that was lost during the hurricane last October.

An average of 800 clients per month visit the center’s food pantry to receive food baskets that provide three full meals each day each week.

Citizens Bank pledged to donate $100,000 to local nonprofits across its 12-state footprint in the wake of the hurricane in an effort to help residents impacted by the storm.

The Jonnnycake Center, founded in 1973 and named after the johnnycake meal that was a basic necessity in colonial days, also offers a vacation breakfast and lunch program for client’s children during school vacations and a holiday meals program at Thanksgiving and in December.

The center’s retail thrift store is open to the public and is a source of free clothing and household items for families in need.