M&T Bank fills Pancho Packs for The Teacher’s Desk

BUFFALO, NY — M&T Bank volunteers spent their Monday preparing a million pencils to kick off WNY Community Impact Week.

The pencils will be distributed to local students in need through Buffalo-based nonprofit The Teacher’s Desk. According to the bank’s regional president, Eric Feldstein, “They arrived in eight large shipments from ships all over, and we collected these large pallets and, over the next few days, we assembled a million pencils, to support our students and they’re going to be assembled into Pancho Packs and given to these students throughout the Western New York community.

The initiative was inspired by the late Buffalo Bills superfan Ezra Castro. You may remember him as Pancho Billa. When he died in 2019, he didn’t want flowers at his funeral. Instead, he asked people to donate school supplies to local children in need.

M&T’s Community Impact Week was launched to make a positive impact on the community. It is organized twice a year.