Nebraska City, Neb. (Aug. 28, 2008) – As the Southeastern Conference (SEC) football schedule gets underway this year, fans will have more reasons to cheer when their favorite team’s offense starts piling up yards.
Regions Bank (NYSE:RF), the SEC, Raycom Sports, and the Arbor Day Foundation today announced a new initiative called “Yards for Trees.” For every yard gained by both teams in each Raycom SEC Game of the Week, Regions will make a donation to the Arbor Day Foundation: each yard gained = one new tree. This effort will go directly toward supporting the Arbor Day Foundation’s work to reforest areas within the Southeastern United States.
“We know that there are small steps that each of us can take to make our world greener,” said Scott Peters, Regions chief marketing officer. “We see this effort as an extension of what we’re attempting to accomplish with our new LifeGreen Checking and Savings account, which like Yards for Trees, is a way of saving some green and being a bit greener.”
In addition to the trees planted through the Arbor Day Foundation, Regions will also plant a tree in the home team’s community in conjunction with the Raycom SEC Game of the Week. This first Raycom SEC Game of the Week for 2008 will be from Gainesville, Fla., where the University of Florida faces the University of Hawaii at 12:30 p.m. ET, on Aug. 30.
“Over the course of the season, Yards for Trees will make it possible to plant thousands of new trees in the Southeast,” said Brian Schenk, corporate partnership manager with the Arbor Day Foundation. “We are delighted to be partnering with Regions, the SEC and Raycom to help ensure that the beautiful skies and crisp autumn air that defines college football are something that future generations can also enjoy.”
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About the Arbor Day Foundation: The Arbor Day Foundation is a nonprofit conservation organization of nearly one million members, with a mission to inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees. More information on the Foundation and its programs can be found at arborday.org.
About Regions Financial Corporation: Regions Financial Corporation is a member of the S&P 100 Index and Forbes Magazine’s “Platinum 400” list of America’s best big companies. With $144 in assets, Regions is one of the nation’s largest full-service providers of consumer and commercial banking, trust, securities brokerage, mortgage and insurance products and services. Regions serves customers in 16 states across the South, Midwest and Texas, and through its subsidiary, Regions Bank, operates over 1,900 banking offices and nearly 2,400 ATMs. Its investment and securities brokerage, trust and asset management division, Morgan Keegan & Company Inc., provides services from some 400 offices. Additional information about Regions and its full line of products and services can be found at www.regions.com.
About the Southeastern Conference: The Southeastern Conference consists of 12 member institutions: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. The league currently sanctions championship play in nine men’s sports and 11 women’s sports. During the 2007-08 academic year, conference teams captured five national championships, including four back-to-back titles, and five national runner-up finishes. In 2006-07, the SEC became the first conference to ever win national championship in football and men’s and women’s basketball in the same school year. Student-athletes around the league continue to excel in the classroom, as well, with over 2,000 earning recognition on the SEC Academic Honor Roll. Its headquarters has been located in Birmingham, Ala., since 1948. For more information on the conference, visit www.secsports.com.