First Niagara Foundation, in partnership with KeyBank, recently announced it will distribute a grant totaling $210,000 over the next three years to the Governor’s Prevention Partnership.

The funding will support the Connecticut Mentoring Partnership. The multiyear grant is part of the Foundation’s Legacy Mentoring Initiative, which provides continued support to quality youth mentoring programs throughout the former First Niagara’s legacy markets now served by KeyBank.

First Niagara, acquired by KeyBank in mid-2016, has invested more than $500,000 in mentoring in the state since 2011. As a result, Partnership increased mentor recruitment in Connecticut by 67 percent to support and strengthen local mentoring efforts and bring advanced mentor training to local programs.

KeyBank launched its own mentoring program earlier this year with James Hillhouse High School in New Haven where a dozen freshmen attended mentoring sessions with KeyBank employees every other week at the bank’s downtown New Haven offices. The youth work on goal-setting and college/career planning activities with their mentors, with a focus on learning responsible personal financial practices and behaviors along the way.

“The bank’s commitment this year to bring youth onsite has inspired other corporations in Connecticut to get involved in youth mentoring, which will be helpful to close the mentoring gap and get more mentors for children on waiting lists,” Jill Spineti, president of The Governor’s Prevention Partnership, said in a statement.