MIAMI, FL -- (Marketwire) -- 05/22/12 -- Today, FirstBank Florida announced a donation of $10,000 to March of Dimes, an organization dedicated to helping moms have full-term pregnancies and researching the problems that threaten the health of babies. The funds were raised as a result of significant staff participation in the annual March for Babies walk on April 28 at Tropical Park in Miami, as well as prior fundraising activities.

"We are very proud of our 126 team members and their families who all participated in the walk to make this donation possible," said Calixto Garcia-Velez, EVP, Florida Region. "We have been actively involved with March of Dimes for the past five years and it is very important to us to continue strengthening our relationship as a member of the South Florida community."

At the March for Babies walk, FirstBank provided bottled water to the walkers at the finish line, as well as set up a face-painting stand for everyone to enjoy. Prior to the April 28th March for Babies walk, FirstBank Florida employees coordinated a number of fundraising activities including selling Easter baskets, some of which were donated to the Miami Children's Hospital, cooking and baking to sell for breakfast, lunch and breaks, holding carwash raffles among employees and putting together a flea market.

In addition to March of Dimes, FirstBank Florida supports local organizations such as United Way, FIU's "First Generation Scholarship Fund," Habitat for Humanity, ASPIRA, Centro Mater, Autism Speaks and Autism Charter School, His House, and the American Bankers Association's "Teach Children to Save Day."

About First BanCorp
First BanCorp is the parent corporation of FirstBank Puerto Rico, a state-chartered commercial bank with operations in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Florida, and of FirstBank Insurance Agency. First BanCorp and FirstBank Puerto Rico operate within U.S. banking laws and regulations. The Corporation operates a total of 161 branches, stand-alone offices and in-branch service centers throughout Puerto Rico, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, and Florida. Among the subsidiaries of FirstBank Puerto Rico are First Federal Finance Corp., a small loan company; FirstBank Puerto Rico Securities, a broker-dealer subsidiary; First Management of Puerto Rico; and FirstMortgage, Inc., a mortgage origination company. In the U.S. Virgin Islands, FirstBank operates First Express, a small loan company. First BanCorp's common and publicly-held preferred shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols FBP, FBPPrA, FBPPrB, FBPPrC, FBPPrD and FBPPrE. Visit www.firstbankpr.com for more information.