Over 50,000 items have been donated to area schools since its inception  

DANBURY, (September 21, 2023) – Union Savings Bank is excited to announce the addition of Brookside Elementary School in Norwalk to its USB Teachers’ Closet school supply program. Chelen Reyes, President and CEO of Union Savings Bank and Michele Bonvicini, Executive Director, Union Savings Bank Foundation, along with USB employees delivered over 15,000 items to Christina Guerra, principal of Brookside Elementary School and a group of teachers at a recent kickoff event held at the school.

“We are delighted to expand the USB Teachers’ Closet to include Brookside Elementary School,” said Chelen Reyes, President and CEO of Union Savings Bank. “Helping to further the education of the students in our community and supporting the teachers who make it possible is vitally important to us. Brookside Elementary School is right near our new branch on Main Street, so this was not only a great way to support the school and teachers, but it was also an excellent opportunity to get involved with the community and help our new neighbors in Norwalk.”

According to a spring 2023 Teacher Spending survey by  Adoptaclassroom.org, teachers said they spent an average of $860 out-of-pocket on classroom supplies during the 2022-2023 school year. Through USB Teachers’ Closet, the bank collects and delivers supplies such as crayons, colored pencils, spiral notebooks, glue, scissors and more to local schools. The donation to Brookside Elementary also included the installation of the USB Teachers’ Closet cabinet that will be stocked year-round with school supplies.

Brookside Elementary School is the fourth school to be added to USB Teachers’ Closet school supplies program, joining Vogel-Wetmore in Torrington, and Morris Street School and South Street School, both in Danbury. The schools were chosen after Union Savings Bank conducted a study to determine which schools were the most in need.

The Teachers’ Closet program was started by the bank in October 2016 as a way to engage the community to give back to local teachers. Each year, customers can bring donated supplies to any USB branch and bank employees are heavily involved as well, donating, organizing, packing, and distributing the supplies. Since its inception, Union Savings Bank has collected over 50,000 supplies to donate to teachers and their students. The bank hopes to continue to grow the program by adding more schools in the future. For more information, please visit Teachers’ Closet.

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About Union Savings Bank

Established in 1866 and headquartered in Danbury, Conn., Union Savings Bank is a $3.0 billion mutual bank dedicated to being the bank of choice. As a full-service financial institution, Union Savings Bank provides banking, mortgage, investment, trust and insurance products throughout Connecticut with 25 offices in Bethel, Brookfield, Canton, Danbury, Goshen, Kent, Litchfield, Marble Dale, Monroe, New Fairfield, Norwalk, New Milford, Newtown, Ridgefield, Roxbury, Southbury, Torrington and Washington Depot. The bank provides financial services to individuals, businesses, not-for-profit organizations, and government entities through its commercial, residential and consumer lending, corporate services, retail banking and wealth management divisions. Please visit www.unionsavings.com for more information; the bank can also be found on LinkedIn. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender.

Community Relations Contact:
Michele Bonvicini
Union Savings Bank
203.830.6045
mbonvicini@unionsavings.com