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M&T BANK ANNOUNCES $6 MILLION IN AMPLIFY FUND GRANTS TO 43 CONNECTICUT NON-PROFITS

Funds Designated to Groups Addressing Underserved, Marginalized & Overlooked Communities

First Group of Amplify Fund Grants with More to Come Through Future Funding Rounds

BRIDGEPORT, Conn., Oct. 17, 2022 -- M&T Bank and the M&T Charitable Foundation today announced the first of a group of Amplify Fund-Connecticut grants committed over a 2-3 year period, totaling $6 million awarded to 43 non-profit organizations across Connecticut. First announced in May 2022, the $25 million fund is aimed at providing unrestricted multi-year support to trusted organizations to enable them to improve the lives of their communities through programmatic, capacity-building or policy-based work.

The creation of the Amplify Fund – which serves Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont – was a result of the merger and conversion between People's United Bank and M&T Bank, which was completed earlier this year, and represents a significant investment in the organizations which serve the communities across M&T's expanded footprint. The grants were awarded by the M&T Charitable Foundation based on the responses to proposals submitted by the nonprofits earlier this year.

Amplify Fund grants provide finite, multi-year funding to community-based organizations and intermediaries with a demonstrated commitment to high-need, underserved, or marginalized communities. Priority was given to applicant organizations that most clearly articulated the needs to be addressed, the strategies to be employed in response to those needs, and a plan to demonstrate the effectiveness of those strategies.

The M&T Charitable Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization founded in 1993 and funded by M&T Bank, is the grantmaker for all Amplify fund grants. The M&T Charitable Foundation supports thousands of nonprofit organizations focused on improving the quality of life in the communities the bank serves. The foundation offers financial support and other resources to a diverse range of organizations, including those that represent civic affairs, human services, education, arts and culture and health care.

RFPs for the next round of grants will be announced at a later date. The work must correspond to documented community need and can include a range of organizational or societal issue areas.

Awarded grants include funding for projects that include but not limited to:

  • Helping low-income BIPOC individuals find new career pathways via job training and mentorship programs, and direct support to BIPOC and women owned small businesses to help develop and grow their businesses.
  • Funding and expansion of safe and stable mission-driven housing to low-income households, and expansion of physical and mental health services for homeless youth in Connecticut.
  • Hiring of additional staff and expansion of organizational capacity across numerous organizations of different types and missions.

"M&T is a community-focused bank, and we are proud to support and stand alongside these impactful organizations to help them do good in the communities which we all value," said Mike Keegan, M&T Bank Senior Executive Vice President and Head of Community Banking. "This first round of Amplify Fund grants being invested in Connecticut is part of a broader commitment to initiatives that are focused on supporting local partners with more capacity to achieve their objectives."

The full list of Connecticut Amplify Fund recipients include:

  • Alliance for Community Empowerment
  • Arts for Learning CT
  • Barnum Museum Foundation, Inc.
  • Bridgeport Caribe Youth Leaders
  • Bridgeport Economic Development Corporation (BEDCO)
  • Bridgeport Neighborhood Trust, Inc.
  • Capital for Change
  • Cardinal Shehan Center
  • Career Resources, Inc.
  • Central Connecticut Coast YMCA
  • Community Action Agency for New Haven
  • Connecticut Association for the Performing Arts (Shubert Theatre)
  • Connecticut Community Outreach Revitalization Program (ConnCORP)
  • Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants
  • CT Council for Philanthropy
  • CT Students for a Dream
  • Eastern Connecticut Housing Opportunities Inc
  • Fairfield County's Community Foundation
  • Forge City Works
  • Habitat for Humanity of Coastal Fairfield County
  • Hartford Land Bank, Inc
  • HEDCO, Inc.
  • Housatonic Community College Foundation
  • Housing Development Fund, Inc.
  • International Hartford Ltd.
  • Junior Achievement of Fairfield County
  • LifeBridge Community Services, Inc.
  • Local Initiatives Support Corporation Connecticut
  • Make the Road Connecticut
  • Mutual Housing Association of Greater Hartford Inc
  • Mutual Housing Association of South Central Connecticut, Inc.
  • Mutual Housing Association of Southwestern Connecticut (Connecticut Housing Partners)
  • Neighborhood Housing Services oOf New Haven, Inc
  • Our Piece of the Pie, Inc.
  • Regional Youth Adult Social Action Partnership (RYASAP)
  • SCSU Foundation
  • Sheldon Oak Central, Inc.
  • The Center for Family Justice, Inc.
  • The Open Door Shelter
  • The San Juan Center
  • The WorkPlace
  • United Way of Coastal Fairfield County
  • Women's Business Development Council

For more information on the Amplify Fund, please visit www3.mtb.com/homepage/about-us/getting-involved/amplify-fund.

About M&T

M&T Bank Corporation is a financial holding company headquartered in Buffalo, New York. M&T's principal banking subsidiary, M&T Bank, provides banking products and services in 12 states across the eastern U.S. from Maine to Virginia and Washington, D.C. Trust-related services are provided in select markets in the U.S. and abroad by M&T's Wilmington Trust-affiliated companies and by M&T Bank. For more information on M&T Bank, visit www.mtb.com.

Media Contact:
National Media, Trade Publications and New England:
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