Webster Bank’s $100K grant to aid ‘finance lab’ at Boys & Girls Club
BRIDGEPORT — Webster Bank this week announced a $100,000 grant to support a “finance lab” launching in the next school year at the under-construction Wakeman Boys & Girls Club, as the company expands its programming for youth in lowto-moderate-income communities. The new initiative aims to help students served by Wakeman gain skills needed for “economic empowerment and financial success,” according to a news release. It will comprise Stamford-based Webster’s third finance lab, following the launch earlier this year of programs in Bronx, N.Y., and Yonkers, N.Y. The grant from Webster’s foundation will support the finance lab’s first year of operations at Wakeman.
“Our partnership is the first of several Webster will fund in New England, furthering our commitment to providing students a unique opportunity to learn about finance, foster youth leadership and build our future workforce,” Marissa Weidner, Webster’s chief corporate responsibility officer, said in a statement.
Scheduled to open in time for the start of the 2023-24 school year, the new Wakeman clubhouse on Madison Avenue will provide youth services in the North End-Hollow sections of Bridgeport. It will have the capacity to serve more than 1,000 children each year from nine area schools — with 98 percent of the students eligible for free lunch, 54 percent living in single-parent homes and 89 percent belonging to minority groups, according to the news release.
“We are incredibly grateful to have Wakeman Boys & Girls Club’s Madison Avenue community clubhouse selected as the site of Connecticut’s first Webster finance lab,” Sabrina Smeltz, chief executive officer of Wakeman Boys & Girls Club, said in a statement. “The finance lab will provide Bridgeport’s children and teens with insight into careers in finance, allow them to connect with finance professionals and learn the critical skills necessary to be fiscally responsible. This partnership with Webster truly supports our goal to ‘build great futures.’”
Webster completed earlier this year a $10 billion merger with Pearl River, N.Y.-based Sterling National Bank. Its approximately $69 billion in consolidated assets, as of Sept. 30, ranked No. 1 among Connecticut-headquartered banks and No. 40 nationally. Among other initiatives, Webster announced this week that it would acquire deposit-management platform interLINK.