KeyBank Foundation donates $200,000 to Rescue Mission’s $6.5 million expansion project

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — KeyBank (NYSE: KEY) announced on Wednesday it has made a $200,000 donation to the Syracuse Rescue Mission to help cover costs in an upcoming $6.5 million renovation and expansion of the organization’s food-services center.

KeyBank Foundation will provide the funding “over the course of four years,” according to a news release on the donation.

The KeyBank Foundation is a nonprofit charitable foundation funded by Cleveland, Ohio–based KeyCorp, KeyBank, and their affiliates.

“Here at the Syracuse Rescue Mission, that mission of thousands of people coming through their door [on] any given day who are homeless, who have needs, who need a chance to have a place to stay, a meal to eat, a chance to get back on their feet, really resonates with all of us as we think about the things our community needs to do to help create that safety net,” Beth Mooney, chairman and CEO of KeyBank, said in remarks at the food-services center.

Mooney and Stephen Fournier, Central New York market president at KeyBank, presented a $200,000 check to David Allyn, the Rescue Mission’s capital-campaign chair during the Wednesday ceremony.

The dining room is currently designed to seat no more than 80 to 100 people. The renovation and expansion will nearly triple seating capacity, adding a family-dining area.

“The food-service project is a three-phase project that we have. We’ll be adding a dock here. Right now, we currently serve 70 meals … at every breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We have usually [attendance of] 200-plus at every meal,” said Allyn in speaking with reporters after the check-presentation ceremony.

The Rescue Mission plans to break ground on the project in the spring, Allyn said.

Assisting training program

In addition to helping the Rescue Mission accommodate the hungry, the renovation and expansion will help “improve and expand” an on-site program offered with the Syracuse City School District for training in the food-service industry.

The program has a 94 percent job placement rate, “training Rescue Mission clients and the wider community,” per the release.

With a larger kitchen and classroom, enrollment in the program will double from 10 students to 20.

The expansion will also enable the Rescue Mission to have more volunteers, expand food storage, and accommodate more food donations and bulk-produce purchases.

The Rescue Mission’s food-services center at 148 Gifford Street “serves a critical role in alleviating hunger in Central New York,” the organizations contended in the release.

The center in 2016 provided 227,110 meals to more than 9,000 people, they said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com