SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Citi Team USA Flag Tour made its first stop today in San Antonio as U.S. Paralympic hopeful and Army Veteran Rico Roman joined Citi Managing Director and Site President Dawn Cooper to raise the Citi Team USA flag and celebrate a the upcoming $50,000 donation to San Antonio-based Operation Comfort through the Every Step of the Way program. Citi is the official bank sponsor of the 2014 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams and the U.S. Olympic Committee.
“We were honored to host our hometown Paralympic hopeful Rico Roman at Citi today and celebrate the impact the Every Step of the Way program will have right here in our community,” said Cooper. “The athletes on Team USA are truly on a journey from ambition and achievement and Rico’s story is even more compelling when you consider the sacrifices he, like so many of our nation’s military veterans, have made while serving our country in uniform.”
Roman spoke to a crowd of more than 200 employees, highlighting his participation in Citi’s Every Step of the Way program and sharing his personal journey from the U.S. Army to the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. Roman is one of nine U.S. Olympians, Paralympians and hopefuls participating in the Every Step of the Way program as “Team Citi.” After the launch of the program in late October, fans quickly rallied behind Roman and allocated $50,000 of Citi’s $500,000 donation to the USOC to benefit Operation Comfort. The San Antonio-based organization provides rehabilitative therapeutic programs to wounded service members, including Roman. The USOC will be distributing the funds at the conclusion of the Every Step of the Way program.
To commemorate reaching the $50,000 donation goal, Roman presented his ‘Signature Step’ footprint to Operation Comfort President and Founder Janis Roznowski. Citi’s donation will fund one full season of competition expenses for his club team – the San Antonio Rampage – which is composed completely of military veterans.
“Operation Comfort is so honored to have played a part in Rico’s pathway to the Paralympic Games,” said Roznowski. “We have a tremendous amount of pride in being able to participate in the Every Step of the Way program and in enabling Rico to give back to his battle buddies and teammates on the San Antonio Rampage Sled Hockey team, with the help of Citi and all of Rico’s fans who got behind him.”
As the official bank sponsor of Team USA and the USOC, Citi is bringing the Olympic Spirit to Citi sites and locations across the country in the months leading up to the 2014 Sochi Olympic and Paralympic Games. Through the Citi Team USA Flag Tour, employees and community partners have the opportunity to meet athletes, hear their inspirational stories and show their support for Team USA. The Citi Team USA flag will fly at Citi’s San Antonio site through the Sochi Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
To find out more about the Every Step of the Way program, please visit citi.com/everystep.
Event photos: Sasha Haagensen
About Citi:
Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.
*Citi's USOC partnership and media rights include U.S. corporate and investment banking, retail banking and commercial banking.
Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com | Twitter: @CitiEveryStep | YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi | Blog: http://citi.com/blog | Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi
About the USOC
Founded in 1894 and headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo., the U.S. Olympic Committee serves as both the National Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee for the United States. As such, the USOC is responsible for the training, entering and funding of U.S. teams for the Olympic, Paralympic, Youth Olympic, Pan American and Parapan American Games, while serving as a steward of the Olympic and Paralympic Movements throughout the country. For more information, visit TeamUSA.org.
