First Niagara Awards A Total of $105,000 to Five Rochester Non-Profits Dedicated to Mentoring

Feb. 28, 2013 - PRLog -- First Niagara has announced the five Rochester area organizations selected to receive a total of $105,000 in grants as part of the bank’s sixth annual Mentoring Matters program. Mentoring Matters is First Niagara’s charitable giving program that provides critical financial and volunteer support for mentoring efforts conducted throughout the Northeast. The 2012-2013 Rochester area Mentoring Matters grant recipients are:

·      Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Rochester

·      Compeer Rochester, Inc.

·      Junior Achievement of Rochester

·      Monroe Community College Foundation

·      St. John Fisher College  

As part of the announcement, students from Rochester’s World of Inquiry School No. 58 traveled to First Niagara’s Regional Headquarters to kick off the bank’s “Day of Mentoring” celebration. Here, students learned from First Niagara employees about financial literacy, budgeting, and how to make a great first impression.

“Mentoring has an incredible impact on the lives of young adults,” says Suzanne Nasipak-Chapman, Rochester Market Executive for First Niagara Bank. “Studies have proven that mentoring provides significant and tangible improvements in participants’ lives and behaviors including better grades, increased school attendance, and better academic performance – all essential to a brighter future. Every child benefits from positive adult role models.”

Over the past six years, First Niagara has provided more than $625,000 in financial support for mentoring programs in Rochester and $4.2 million for mentoring initiatives throughout its Upstate New York, Pennsylvania, and New England footprint.

First Niagara, through its wholly owned subsidiary, First Niagara Bank, N.A., is a multi-state community-oriented bank with nearly 430 branches, approximately $38 billion in assets, $29 billion in deposits, and approximately 6,000 employees providing financial services to individuals, families and businesses across Upstate New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. For more information, visit www.firstniagara.com.