Huntington Bank's Team Reaches the 1,000 Rider Mark for the Pelotonia Bike Tour

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Huntington Bank (Nasdaq: HBAN; www.huntington.com) has reached its goal to recruit 1,000 riders for Pelotonia, a Columbus-based grassroots bike tour with one goal: to end cancer. One hundred percent of the money raised by the Huntington team for Pelotonia goes to The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute.

The 1,000 rider mark for Pelotonia 2010 was an aggressive goal for Huntington. At last year's inaugural event, the entire field of cyclists numbered 2,265, including Huntington's team of just 50 riders. Joining as a major funding sponsor for 2010, Huntington earlier this year committed $2.5 million over five years to Pelotonia, in addition to a promise to recruit 1,000 riders. Ride organizers expect more than 4,000 cyclists to participate in this year's event.

"At Huntington, we focus on growth for our business and also on giving back to our communities," explained Huntington Senior Executive Vice President Daniel B. Benhase, who is leading Huntington's rider recruitment and fundraising efforts and will be riding with the team on Aug. 21. "We knew that our commitment to grow our Pelotonia team by 2,000 percent would be tough, so I'm extremely proud of our Huntington colleagues, customers, and business partners who have joined our team, given money or both – all to help us keep this important commitment."  

Adding to this achievement was recruiting Franck Wobst, a labor and employment law attorney with Porter Wright, as Huntington's 1,000th rider. He will be riding in honor of his father, retired Huntington Chairman and CEO Frank Georg Wobst, who died in December 2009 of cancer. The senior Wobst was known as a community leader who gave of his time and money, serving on numerous non-profit boards including as trustee and chairman of the Columbus Museum of Art, Children's Hospital of Columbus, and Development Council of Ohio, as well as trustee and board director for The Ohio State University Foundation.  

Wobst's son, Franck, will be riding in his father's honor. "Huntington was a big part of my father's life, as was giving back to the Columbus community, so it seemed fitting for me to join the Huntington team," said Wobst. "My entire family is thrilled to be supporting the important cancer research being done at Ohio State."  

"We are humbled by the enthusiasm and commitment that the entire Huntington organization has shown to Pelotonia and its mission to raise money for cancer research at Ohio State," said Dr. Michael A. Caligiuri, director of Ohio State's Comprehensive Cancer Center and chief executive officer of the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, the beneficiary of the money raised through Pelotonia. "All of the remarkable efforts of the Huntington riders, volunteers and donors will help us achieve our goal: to create a cancer-free world."

To learn more about Pelotonia, visit www.Pelotonia.org. To support fundraising by Huntington's 1,000th rider, Franck Wobst, go to www.tinyurl.com/PelotoniaWobst.

About Huntington

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated is a $52 billion regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Through its affiliated companies, Huntington has been providing a full range of financial services including checking, loans, savings, insurance and investment services to customers for 144 years. Huntington has more than 600 branches. Huntington also offers retail and commercial financial services online at huntington.com; through its telephone bank; and through its network of more than 1,300 ATMs.

SOURCE Huntington Bank