National City To Shed Light on a Worthy Cause

CLEVELAND, Sept. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- National City Corporation will shed light on a worthy cause by illuminating its corporate headquarters pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which begins Oct. 1.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030428/NATIONALCITYLOGO)

Lighting of the National City building -- located at 1900 E. Ninth St. -- will take place this Friday, Sept. 29, in a ceremony honoring breast cancer survivors and those who have lost their battle to the devastating disease. The building will continue to illuminate the sky throughout the month of October.

The event, Illuminating Hope, runs from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the plaza outside National City's headquarters at E. Ninth and Euclid Ave. It will feature the presentation of a $75,000 National City donation to MetroHealth for breast cancer research, as well as inspirational remarks by a breast cancer survivor.

Cleveland Browns great Doug Dieken will serve as emcee. Lighting of the National City building will occur at approximately 7 p.m.

More than 100 guests are expected to attend the event, which also kicks off National City's annual breast cancer awareness campaign.

"Many of our employees, customers and community members have been affected by breast cancer. By supporting local programs and efforts to generate awareness, support prevention and fund research, National City hopes to make a difference in the fight against breast cancer," said Peter E. Raskind, vice chairman of National City. "We believe that our contributions, and those of the community, will help bring us all one step closer to eradicating this devastating disease."

National City has long supported breast cancer awareness and prevention initiatives, including through the sale of special Diamond Edition debit and credit card products, through which a portion of each transaction goes to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Since launching the Diamond Edition program, National City and its customers have raised $1.7 million toward breast cancer prevention and education.

Additionally, customers enrolled in points from National City, the company's banking rewards program, have the opportunity to redeem points for donations to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, providing mammograms, education kits, breast cancer screenings and support materials to clients. Beginning Oct. 1, customers can donate points by logging on to http://www.nationalcity.com/donatepoints.

About National City

National City Corporation , headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is one of the nation's largest financial holding companies. The company operates through an extensive banking network primarily in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri and Pennsylvania, and also serves customers in selected markets nationally. Its core businesses include commercial and retail banking, mortgage financing and servicing, consumer finance and asset management. For more information about National City, visit the company's Web site at http://www.nationalcity.com/.