Contact: Gay Mills -- (585) 256-2130 or e-mail:gmills@geneseelandtrust.org or Kathleen Rizzo-Young, HSBC-- (716) 841-5003

January 3, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GENESEE LAND TRUST RECEIVES HSBC FOUNDATION GRANT

The Genesee Land Trust has received a $10,000 grant from HSBC in the Community, (USA) Inc., HSBC Bank USA’s foundation. The grant will support the Trust’s efforts to conserve wetlands, woodlands, and farmland in the Greater Rochester area.

The Land Trust protects preserves valuable lands and habitats by accepting donations of, or by purchasing, property; by creating voluntary land protection agreements for properties remaining in private hands, with the guarantee that they will remain undisturbed; and by assisting partner organizations, such as municipalities, with similar conservation efforts. The Trust has preserved more than 1,500 acres around Greater Rochester.

“HSBC in the Community supports land conservation as one important way of enhancing the quality of life in local communities,” said Trust President Tom Tette. “This is a benefit to the entire region.”

“The Genesee Land Trust has been a wonderful partner. We are pleased to provide continuing support to a local organization that has Rochester’s best interests at heart and whose priorities are so well aligned with HSBC’s,” said Kenneth D. Bell, Rochester Regional President for HSBC Bank USA.

HSBC has undertaken “Investing in Nature,” a world-wide effort to conserve and improve the environment. In the United States, HSBC has established its foundation, HSBC in the Community (USA) Inc., with a philanthropic strategy focused primarily on two critical issues, education and the environment. The bank has been serving customers in New York State for over 150 years and has 47 branches in Rochester area.

The Genesee Land Trust was established in 1989 as a not-for-profit organization. The Trust has offices at 500 East Avenue in Rochester (phone 256-2130). Gay Mills serves as the Trust’s Executive Director.

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