KeyBank staff pose for a photo at Flying Free Therapeutic Riding Center in North Franklin in this undated handout photo. Bank staffers cleaned the facility's pasture as part of a company-wide volunteer day during the week of June 3, 2024. Photo courtesy of KeyBank

Connecticut KeyBank employees joined roughly 4,600 of their peers for a company-wide volunteer day during the week of June 3 that saw them complete projects at charities, local parks and schools across the state.

Called “Neighbors Make The Difference Day,” the event included closing the majority of the bank’s branches at noon followed by community service projects. In total 550 were completed nation-wide the bank said.

“Neighbors Make The Difference Day is one of KeyBank’s most visible community volunteer initiatives. The company-wide day of service is a long-standing annual event that demonstrates KeyBank’s commitment to helping its neighbors and communities thrive,” the bank said in a statement.

KeyBank said its local staff completed 16 projects in Connecticut and two in Massachusetts:

• Boys & Girls Club of Milford, Milford CT – organized and decorated program rooms in preparation for the Club’s summer camp program.
• Boys & Girls Club of Greater New Haven, North Haven CT – KeyBank staff played flag football and kickball with BGC Club kids.
• Branford Parks and Recreation, Branford CT – outdoor cleanup activities
• Camp Hazen YMCA, Chester, CT – painting and landscaping
• Clifford Beers Community Care Center, Durham, CT – Camp Farnam cleanup projects such as clearing trails and landscaping
• Connecticut Foodshare, Wallingford, CT – inspected and sorted donated food items
• Flying Free Therapeutic Riding Center, North Franklin, CT – pasture cleanup
• Guilford Lakes Elementary School, Guilford, CT – helped weed the garden beds around the school grounds
• Mercy Housing & Shelter/ Community Housing Advocates, Hartford, CT – miscellaneous maintenance tasks throughout the center
• Network Against Domestic Abuse, Enfield, CT – assembled golf tournament registration mailing
• New England Air Museum, Windsor Locks, CT – cleaned aircraft at the museum
• Nueva Esperanza, Holyoke, MA – cleaned and organized toy donations
• Open Pantry Community Services, Springfield, MA – sorted and organized food donations
• Stamford Senior Center, Stamford, CT – painted a mural on the center’s patio, and assembled a small storage shed
• TEEG- Thompson Ecumenical Empower Group, North Grosvenordale, CT – organized and stocked food pantry, garden work
• TEEG, Pomfret Community Center, Pomfret, CT – Assisted with food bank, cleaned premises
• Veterans Base Camp, Chaplin, CT – miscellaneous maintenance tasks
• Women’s Mentoring Network, Stamford CT – sorted and organized donated clothing