City National Bank Awards Literacy Grants To Educators In Four States Totaling Over $96,000

LOS ANGELES, March 7, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- City National Bank today announced that it has awarded 110 Reading is The way up ^® literacy grants totaling more than $96,000 to support literacy-based projects at elementary, middle and high schools in California, Nevada, New York and Georgia.

(See attached list of all grant recipients or visit www.readingisthewayup.org/literacy.php .)

Reading is The way up is the award-winning literacy initiative through which City National has donated more than 170,000 books to elementary school libraries in California, Nevada, New York, Nashville, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia, and awarded nearly 750 teacher grants to enhance literacy totaling over $600,000 since the program's inception in 2002.

The grants ranging from $500 to $1,500 will help augment or expand literacy projects that were judged to be creative and engaging, and that would have a tangible effect on student achievement. The winning programs are expected to directly improve literacy to more than 15,000 students in 108 schools throughout California, Nevada, New York and Georgia.

The educators receiving literacy grants were selected from among the many full-time teachers, librarians, administrators and school media specialists who submitted an online application. The one-page application was available to educators in every school district throughout the bank's footprint in California, Nevada, New York and Georgia.

"We wanted to do something special for our 2012-2013 literacy grant program since it marked the 10 ^th anniversary of our literacy program and we believe we achieved our goal," said Carolyn Rodriguez, vice president and manager of Reading is The way up for City National. "This year's program awarded a record number of grants to the most educators and schools in the history of the program, which ultimately improves the educational experience for both educators and students."

About Reading is The way up®

Seeking to better the education of our future leaders, City National in April 2002 launched a multi-faceted initiative to restock the state's school library system. Since then, the award-winning program has:

• Donated more than 170,000 books to California, Nevada, New York, Nashville, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia school libraries.
• Awarded over $600,000 to teachers at elementary, middle and high schools for creative literacy projects.
• Supports strategic partnerships such as the Children's Defense Fund-Los Angeles Urban Lights Freedom Schools program; Jump Start Early Education; Public Foundation Education.
• Received the 2005 President's Volunteer Service Award, the 2005 Corporate Philanthropy Award from the Los Angeles Public Library, the 2006 Corporate Award from the Getty House Foundation, the Hugh O'Brien Youth Leadership Corporate Citizen Award, and honored as the 2007 Corporate Visionary Partner by the Wonder of Reading.

The Reading is the Way Up Fund is a 501(c)(3) administered by the California Community Foundation. For more information, visit www.readingisthewayup.org .

About City National

City National Bank is the wholly owned subsidiary of City National Corporation (NYSE:CYN). It is backed by $28.6 billion in total assets, and provides banking, investment and trust services through 78 offices, including 16 full-service regional centers, in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, Nevada, New York City, Nashville and Atlanta. The company and its investment affiliates manage or administer $56.7 billion in client investment assets, including $38.2 billion under direct management.

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