MALDEN OBSERVER

March 29, 2009

Diane Portnoy is pictured with Doug Flutie, on the left, and Richard Holbrook, chairman and CEO of Eastern Bank.

Recently Eastern Bank honored 49 non-profit organizations with $800,000 in grants for their outstanding community leadership at its 5th annual “Community Quarterback” award ceremony. Among them was the Immigrant Learning Center, Inc., in Malden, which received a grant of $10,000.

Eastern Bank chairman and CEO Richard E. Holbrook and football legend Doug Flutie, the bank’s spokesman, honored the organizations before more than 100 guests during a ceremony at University of Massachusetts Boston, which was one of the organizations recognized during the event. Each of the 49 organizations received a grant of $10,000 or more from the Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation.

The grants were among the more than $2.4 million donated last year to hundreds of organizations by the Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation. In five years, the “Community Quarterback” program has honored more than 200 organizations with $3.5 million in grants.

Each “Community Quarterback” recipient honored at this year’s ceremony received a “Community Quarterback” football autographed by Flutie, celebrating and symbolizing its leadership.”Eastern Bank works hard to truly understand the needs of its communities, especially in the non-profit arena,” said Holbrook.

“Organizations, such as the ones we honored today, are vital to improving the quality of life in our cities and towns. These ‘Community Quarterbacks’ demonstrate leadership and commitment – which is particularly critical during challenging times – and are an inspiration to us all.”

“I’m proud to partner with Eastern Bank because of its longstanding commitment to putting its communities and people first,” said Flutie. “It’s been an honor over the last five years to work with Rich Holbrook on the ‘Community Quarterback’ event, which has quickly become a staple on the state’s charitable events calendar.”