KeyBank Partners With UConn and Husky Ticket Project to Host “UConn Day” at Kennelly School

KeyBank, the Official Retail Bank of UConn Men's Basketball, partnered with Husky Ticket Project to present "UConn Day" to the students of E.B Kennelly School in Hartford. KeyBank provided pizzas and ice cream to more than 400 students and 120 staff members, including 20 University of Connecticut Neag School of Education students completing their year-long teaching internships at Kennelly School. Conceived in 2018 to thank Kennelly School for the student teaching internships, UConn Day also drives awareness and excitement in Kennelly students for attending college someday. Festivities included a student parade and pep rally led by the UConn Mascot, Jonathan!  

KeyBank's involvement in this year's event was part of the bank's KeyBank Assists program, launched a year ago to support local businesses and communities impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.  To date, KeyBank Assists has donated more than $550,000 to communities across the bank's 15-state footprint and supported 38 charities and 105 small businesses. For today's UConn Day, KeyBank supported small business customers Pietro's Pizza of Hartford, CT and Crave Leche of Hartford by purchasing party-sized pizzas and ice cream cups for Kennelly students and staff. 

"This is the second time UConn has teamed up with us on KeyBank Assists and we appreciate their great community partnership," said KeyBank Market President, Jim Barger. "It has been an incredibly challenging year for students, teachers, local restaurants and other small businesses, and so many others in our community. Today was a great day for helping out a couple local businesses and making a few hundred kids happy at the same time!"  

KeyBank will also make a $3,000 donation to the Husky Ticket Project, which to date has raised more than $80,000 to give disadvantaged elementary and middle school students the opportunity to experience college basketball.  The Husky Ticket Project will provide tickets and transportation to bring Kennelly School students to Gampel Pavilion in Storrs to visit the campus and see a game during the 2021-2022 season.

KeyBank has 54 branches in Connecticut and 8 branches in Western Massachusetts. The bank has served as the Official Retail Bank of UConn Men's Basketball since 2017.

Learn more about the KeyBank Assists at www.key.com/keybankassists . 

About KeyBank: 
KeyCorp's roots trace back 190 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $170.3 billion at December 31, 2020. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of more than 1,000 branches and approximately 1,400 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC.

About Husky Ticket Project:
The Husky Ticket Project aims to cultivate deeper relationships with Connecticut youth organizations and the University of Connecticut. Utilizing the vast network of university alumni to source donations, their goal is to provide under-privileged members of the community with tickets to enjoy the UConn game day experience. Husky Ticket Project aims to foster an opportunity to strengthen relationships and promote teamwork, all while encouraging the next generate of UConn Husky Fans.

About Kennelly School:
Kennelly is a Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) school, where students are rewarded for good choices. "Bee" bucks are awarded for the three BEES (be safe, be respectful, be responsible). In addition, all Hartford Public Schools support college and career readiness opportunities. The partnership with UConn allowed elementary and middle school students firsthand access to college students, encouraging them to view college as a realistic goal.