Danvers Bancorp, Inc. Passes on Government Relief.

DANVERS, Mass. -- Danvers Bancorp, Inc. (the "Company") (NASDAQ: DNBK), the holding company for Danversbank (the "Bank"), today announced that it opted to not participate in the U.S. Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) Capital Purchase Program offered as part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

"We did not avail ourselves of the TARP program being offered by the Federal government because, quite frankly, we didn't need to," said Kevin T. Bottomley, President and CEO of Danvers Bancorp. "We raised significant amounts of capital from our depositors in our initial public offering in January, and remain very well-capitalized. We're in a good position and can use the capital to take advantage of opportunities in the marketplace, or to use it as a cushion if needed."

The 158-year old bank has a total risk-based capital ratio of 22.98% as of September 30, 2008 -- nearly two and a half times the required level of 10% to be considered well-capitalized by FDIC standards. The Bank did not participate in subprime lending, nor did it own preferred shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- two actions that proved detrimental for those institutions who did. The Company's third quarter earnings release indicated that despite the deterioration experienced in many sectors of the broader credit markets, The Company's asset quality metrics remained satisfactory, with non-performing assets as a percentage of total assets of 50 basis points, down from 71 at June 30, 2008. The Bank continues to lend money to individuals, families, businesses and corporations, as net loans increased by $162.8 million, or 18.1% during the first nine months of this year.

Company Profile

Danvers Bancorp, Inc. is the holding company for Danversbank, a Massachusetts-chartered savings bank headquartered in Danvers, Massachusetts. Originally founded in 1850 as a Massachusetts-chartered mutual savings bank, we have grown to $1.6 billion in assets through acquisitions and internal growth, including de novo branching. We conduct business from our main office located at One Conant Street, Danvers, Massachusetts, and our 17 other branch offices located in Andover, Beverly, Boston, Chelsea, Danvers, Malden, Middleton, Peabody, Reading, Revere, Salem, Saugus, Wilmington, and Woburn, Massachusetts. Our business consists primarily of making loans to our customers, including commercial and industrial, commercial real estate loans, owner-occupied residential mortgages and consumer loans, and investing in a variety of investment securities. We fund these lending and investment activities with deposits from our customers; funds generated from operations and selected borrowings. We also provide non-deposit investment products and services, cash management, debit and credit card products and online banking services. Additional information about the Company and its subsidiaries is available at www.danversbank.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements herein constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on the beliefs and expectations of management, as well as the assumptions made using information currently available to management. Since these statements reflect the views of management concerning future events, these statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. As a result, actual results may differ from those contemplated by these statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They often include words like "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate,' and "intend" or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could," or "may." Certain factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results include changes in the interest rate environment, changes in general economic conditions, legislative and regulatory changes and the risk factors described in the Company's December 31, 2007 Form 10-K, issued March 28, 2008, that adversely affect the business in which Danvers Bancorp is engaged and changes in the securities market. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release and the associated conference call. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether in response to new information, future events or otherwise.