Released March 3, 2010

Contact
Margo O’Hara, Active Transportation Alliance
312.427.3325 x224
margo@activetrans.org

Karen Perlman, MB Financial Bank
847.653.1788
kperlman@mbfinancial.com

MB FINANCIAL BANK AND ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION ALLIANCE TEAM UP FOR CAR-FREE BIKE RIDE ON LAKE SHORE DRIVE MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

(Chicago, IL ) -- Active Transportation Alliance announced MB Financial Bank as title sponsor of the ninth annual Bike the Drive, an event that will see 20,000 cyclists pour onto a car-free Lake Shore Drive on May 30, 2010. To celebrate this partnership, Active Trans has extended the $5 registration discount through March 9, 2010. Registration is open at www.bikethedrive.org.

MB Financial Bank Bike the Drive is a fundraiser for Active Trans, a non-profit advocacy organization that improves walking, biking and transit in Chicagoland.

“MB is excited to team up with Active Transportation Alliance for their premier fundraising event and help deliver to Chicagoland one of the city’s signature kickoff-to-summer family celebrations,” said Mitch Feiger, president and CEO, MB Financial, Inc. “We’re proud to support a local non-profit whose mission and drive parallels that of MB’s. Both Active Trans and MB are committed to the health and safety of the Chicago metropolitan area -- whether it’s physical, environmental or financial.”

MB Financial Bank Bike the Drive provides hours of uninterrupted, non-competitive biking on the entire 15 miles of Chicago’s famous Lake Shore Drive. Participants start and finish at Columbus and Jackson in downtown Chicago and can head north to Hollywood or south to the Museum of Science and Industry and ride as little or as much as each participant chooses.

Registration for the MB Financial Bank Bike the Drive is $42 ($37 for Active Trans members). Registration for youth 17 and under is $15 with an adult registration. Event registration includes an event T-shirt, volunteer support, and access to rest stops and a post-ride festival, which features Beatles tribute band American English.

Sign up by March 9, 2010 and save $5 on any registration package, including the Gold Package that includes two signature bike rides and an Active Trans membership. Find out more at www.bikethedrive.org/gold

“MB Financial Bank Bike the Drive is the perfect way to kick off your Chicago summer,” said Rob Sadowsky, executive director of the Active Transportation Alliance. “Cruise up and down the car-free Lake Shore Drive as fast or as slow as you’d like. The Drive is yours!”

ABOUT ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION ALLIANCE
The Active Transportation Alliance is a non-profit, member-based advocacy organization that works to make bicycling, walking and public transit so safe, convenient and fun that we will achieve a significant shift from environmentally harmful, sedentary travel to clean, active travel. The organization builds a movement around active transportation, encourages physical activity, increases safety and builds a world-class transportation network. Formerly the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, the Active Transportation Alliance is North America’s largest transportation advocacy organization, supported by more than 6,000 members, 1,000 volunteers and 35 full-time staff. For more information on the Active Transportation Alliance, visit www.activetrans.org or call 312.427.3325.

ABOUT MB FINANCIAL BANK
MB Financial Bank is a locally-operated financial institution that has been delivering competitive personalized service for 100 years to businesses and individuals who live and work in the Chicago metropolitan area. MB has nearly 90 locations throughout the Chicagoland area.

MB Financial Bank is the Illinois local operating unit of MB Financial, Inc., a financial services holding company which is traded on the NASDAQ as "MBFI." MB Financial, based in Chicago, has more than $10 billion in assets. Information about MB Financial can be found at www.mbfinancial.com.