WESTERLY, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 26, 2006--Washington Trust's sixth annual P.B. Xpress peanut butter drive brought in a record 22,133 pounds, or 11 tons, of peanut butter to help those served by the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. This year's drive broke last year's record of 8.5 tons; the Bank has collected a total of 32 tons of peanut butter since the drive began in 2001.

Washington Trust collected peanut butter throughout the month of March at each of the Bank's sixteen branch offices in Rhode Island and southeastern CT. Bank employees, customers and more than fifty schools and businesses throughout the area participated in the drive. Radio station 92 WPRO FM's popular morning show team, "Giovanni and Kim!" promoted the drive on-air during March and held a live remote broadcast at Washington Trust's Cranston branch on Saturday, April 1, 2006. Almost one-half, or 5 tons of peanut butter was collected at the April 1st drive, which, according to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, surpassed the amounts collected during the previous two live remote broadcasts.

"We're elated with the amount of peanut butter collected and grateful to the local community and schools for contributing to our drive," said John C. Warren, chairman and CEO of The Washington Trust Company. "The Rhode Island Community Food Bank is a tremendous resource and we know, unfortunately, that the 11 tons of peanut butter will not last long on their shelves."

"The peanut butter collected through Washington Trust's drive will help us provide a much-needed source of protein to thousands of children and adults in our state," said Bernie Beaudreau, executive director of the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. "All too often, protein, an important building block for a healthy lifestyle, is frequently absent from the diets of low-income families," he added.

St. Mary's - Bay View Academy of Riverside, Rhode Island collected
1,769 pounds of peanut butter; the most collected by any group. This is the third straight year that Bay View has led the peanut butter fundraising drive. Other top schools included: Gallagher Middle School, Smithfield, RI with 1,614 pounds; Hugh B. Bain Middle School, Cranston, RI with 1,040 pounds and John Brown Francis Elementary School, Warwick, RI with 821 pounds.

The Washington Trust Company is the largest independent bank headquartered in Rhode Island. A state-chartered bank, Washington Trust offers a full range of financial services, including wealth management, through its offices located in Rhode Island, southeastern Connecticut and Massachusetts. Founded in 1800, the Bank is a subsidiary of Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc., whose common stock trades on The NASDAQ Stock Market(R) under the symbol WASH. Web site address: www.washtrust.com.

The Rhode Island Community Food Bank is a non-profit organization located in Providence, RI. The Food Bank solicits stores and distributes food products donated by supermarkets, wholesalers, food processors, local farmers and community food drives. The food is then distributed to the Food Bank's network of over 400 member agency programs. In the past fiscal year ending June 30, the Food Bank distributed a record 8.4 million pounds of food, while serving an average of 51,000 people each month. For more information about the Food Bank, please visit: www.rifoodbank.org.

Photo ID:

Left to Right: Elizabeth B. Eckel, Sr. Vice President, Washington Trust; Bernard J. Beaudreau, Executive Director, Rhode Island Community Food Bank; Giovanni & Kim from 92 Pro FM Radio's "Giovanni & Kim" show.

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Copyright Business Wire 2006

Washington Trust Company

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