Congratulations & Good luck

Congratulations
Last night I attended a Valley Community Foundation reception where they signed a historic agreement with the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven culminating years of discussion and negotiation that brought them to last night's agreement - and it's a winner for everyone involved. Under the new 7 year agreement the Valley Community Foundation effectively gains control of the decision making process for grants made from the funds left to the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven by the Gates brothers, Frank and Ross, years ago. This is truly historic as the Gates Fund was a major step forward for the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven when it was established, and it is a major step forward for the Valley Community Foundation today. Coupled with the success that they have already achieved in their early history, this agreement guarantees that the Valley Community Foundation will be a permanent part of the Valley's philanthropic landscape and that benefits everyone in the Valley community.

I want to congratulate everyone involved in reaching the agreement, but there are too many to mention here. I do want to single out my Derby High classmate and Valley Community Foundation President Jamie Cohen and his counterpart at the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, Will Ginsburg, for their leadership in moving the agreement along to yesterday's signing. It is obvious that their friendship and mutual respect for each other coupled with their vision for the success of both organizations played a major role in reaching the agreement. The agreement goes well beyond the Gates Fund in creating a strong and mutually beneficial working arrangement between the organizations; but for today at least, I think the main story is the Gates Fund.

Good Luck

If you have been following his story on our website, you know that this is the big weekend for Nick Tarasovic and the Tri-Challenge. During the course of his training, Nick has traveled over 4,750 miles through all kinds of weather from polar cold to tropical heat and humidity. That includes running more than the distance from New York to Florida, biking from here to Los Angeles and swimming across the state of Connecticut. I'm tired even thinking about it!

It all culminates this Sunday in Sandusky, Ohio where Nick will have to swim 2.4 miles, ride a bike for 112 miles and run 26.2 more miles in the Revolution3 Cedar Point Triathlon! All I can say is good luck on Sunday and congratulations for what he has already achieved. To date, we have pledges of $11,695.81 made on behalf of Nick as part of the challenge. We'll have a full story on the website next week.



For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Energy Audit - A Useful Tool

 In earlier blogs, I talked about the cost savings associated with switching electrical providers and the fact that I have been saving about $20 - $30 on my bill since I switched about 18 months ago. As I had mentioned, Valley United Way is now urging people to take advantage of those cost savings and providing them with a quick and easy way to do so using a Shelton based electrical supplier - DiscountPower, Inc. This will also lead to a donation being made to Valley United Way based on the electrical usage of those enrolling in the program. The details can be found by clicking here.

Today, I'm writing about one of the other benefits of making the switch with DiscountPower. Once you enroll in the program, you are entitled to have a free energy audit done by another Valley based company - Seymour's Dr. Energy Saver. I called and booked my appointment a couple of weeks ago. About a week before my appointment, I was surprised to receive a packet in the mail. It included information about and pictures of the two technicians who would be coming to do my inspection. It also included a book about energy savings and the different methods that could be involved. It was a big help to have those things in hand before the audit.

Since my house is a bit older, and my oil bills are very high, I was expecting the worst and preparing for estimates for all kinds of work that could cost me more than they would be worth to do. Instead, I had an audit that was thorough and professional in every way and resulted in a recommendation not for a full range of measures to be taken, but rather for one that would return the greatest cost savings for the dollars that would need to be expended. It also included information about rebates and tax credits that could help to offset the costs.

I'm now mulling over my options, but I am very pleased to say that the audit was a worthwhile effort and was conducted professionally in every way. I think that anyone who signs up for the DiscountPower option for their electrical supplier should also take advantage of this great deal on the energy audit with Dr. Energy Saver to save even more on their heating and electrical costs.


For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Monday Musings

Last week's Back to School Clothes for Kids project and the food drive hosted by R.S. Scinto and Prudential Annuities made for an extremely busy and productive week. I capped the week on the weekend by running in two road races in Shelton - the Wesley Heights 5K Road Race and the Sunset Run for the Warriors 10K.

Now I'm sitting here looking at the weeks ahead and the official beginning of our Community Campaign on September 22. There are several things between now and then starting with a reminder of a way to save money and benefit United Way at the same time.

Several weeks ago, I wrote about program that we are doing with Shelton based DiscountPower and the state's program that allows people to select their electrical power supplier. I'm happy to say that we have almost 30 people who have already signed up to lower their bill and help make a small donation to United Way at the same time. I also switched and my bill already shows DiscountPower as my new supplier. As I mentioned previously, I've been saving $20-$30 a month for a while now, and DiscountPower's rates were lower than what I was already paying. On top of that, tomorrow Dr. EnergySaver is coming to my house to do a full energy audit that comes free if you switch to Discount Power.They have already sent me some informative materials to prepare, and I am looking forward to their visit.

It also dawned on me this morning as I was contemplating my weekend running that Nick Tarasovic is approaching the end of his Tri-Challenge. In less than two weeks, he will be attempting to swim 2.4 miles, ride a bike for 112 miles and run 26.2 more miles - all in one day - and I thought running two races in a weekend was tough!!

On September 14, we have the thank you reception of members of the Commodore Hull Society. We had hoped to be able to show an oil portrait of the Commodore that dates back to the early 1800's - even before his famous victory over the British on Old Ironsides. Unfortunately, something has come up, and the portrait will not be available, but we will tell the story and more importantly take the time to thank our largest donors for their support.

Week of Caring is going to involve the renovation of Umbrella's shelter for victims of domestic violence, and companies are already lining up to participate. This is the third time down through the years that we have done the shelter, and it's always a rewarding experience for everyone involved. That will be held the week of September 20-24.

And finally, it's time to make your reservation for the Kickoff on September 22 at the new Derby Middle School. Invitations are now in the mail, but the quickest and easiest way to make your reservation is to simply do it on-line. Click here to go directly to the page.

There's a lot going on in addition to everything mentioned already, but it's also time to pause and wish everyone a Happy Labor Day.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Busy day with food and clothes

Every day seems to be getting busier as we head to the unofficial end of summer - the beginning of the new school year. That seems to be especially true this week as we have just completed presentations for our United Way campaign with teachers in Shelton and Seymour and will be doing the Derby teacher's Friday morning. Today, we are also visiting with schools, but this will be an event for students and parents - our annual Back to School Clothes for Kids Project!

This is an absolutely amazing effort that our Corporate Volunteer Council began as schools closed for the summer back in June. On our rotating basis, Ansonia was chosen for this year's project and we were given profiles of needy students with information not only on their clothes sizes, but also about their favorite colors, sports, music, etc. For the last couple of months our CVC partners have been shopping for their kids, and today it all comes together with a reception for the kids where they will be getting their new outfits along with a heavy dose of encouragement for a great new school year. As a former teacher myself, I appreciate just how important the first couple of weeks are to student success. Our Back to School project helps to make sure kids attend school and are in the right frame of mind to learn. Please visit our website later today for pictures, stories and video from today's event.

Also on tap today is the second week of the Towers Food Drive sponsored by R.D. Scinto and Prudential Annuities in the "Circle" at the Corporate Drive complex. It's a tough time of year for the food banks, and this drive will really help the Spooner House replenish their dwindling supplies. There's a short video on our website.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Early Commodore Hull Picture Emerges

Commodore Isaac Hull

Last week I mentioned a "New" old portrait of one of America's greatest naval heroes, Commodore Issac Hull, for whom our leadership giving society is named. As you can see from the picture above, the portrait looks fantastic even though it predates Hull's great victory over the British during the War of 1812. For more details about the portrait and its owner, Cindy Cross, click here.

What has me excited about this is the timing. We will be hosting a thank you reception for our Commodore Hull Society members on September 14, which is a very special occasion for us to thank our donors. It is now even more special because Cindy Cross has agreed to bring the portrait to the reception for everyone to see. As we inch closer and closer to the 200th anniversary of Commodore Hull's greatest triumph, it is especially fitting to be able to have a formal viewing of this visual reminder of the Commodore's great contributions to U.S. naval history. I hope that as many members of the Commodore Hull Society as possible will be able to join us for this historic evening.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Commodore Isaac Hull Society reception set

It's a very busy time of year at United Way as we prepare for the upcoming campaign and our Corporate Volunteer Council is working on the Back to School Clothes for Kids Reception next week and the Week of Caring project next month. But today I want to pause and offer a special thanks to the members of our Commodore Isaac Hull Society who represent the largest givers to Valley United Way.

When we established our leadership giving group many years ago, we wanted a name that would signify the importance of the Society to the entire community. After doing some research, Vincent Palacino, who was our Director of Resource Development, suggested naming it after Commodore Hull Vince was not from the Valley, but his research had left him with the strong impression that not only was Commodore Hull one of the greatest naval heroes in U.S. history, but he also was born in Derby and grew up in both Derby and what is now the City of Shelton. If you don't know about Commodore Hull's role in U.S. history, perhaps you know the story of "Old Ironsides", the U.S.S. Constitution, which is still on public display to this day in Boston, and is the oldest commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy. Hull was in charge of Old Ironsides on that fateful day when it defeated the British ship Guerriere in a stunning victory for the young U.S. Navy during the War of 1812. The victory brought credibility to the U.S. Navy and great honor to the entire country. You can learn more about Commodore Hull here.

Commodore Hull was indeed a great hero for the entire country, and we are proud to have our leadership givers associated with such an outstanding figure in Valley history. Our donors make a little bit of history of their own through their involvement with the Commodore Hull Society. Their donations make a major difference in the quality of life in our community as they support so many worthy programs and organizations funded through the United Way campaign. They are also role models for all those who want to be involved in the community in a leadership role. For the first time in years, we are going to pause and thank them directly with a small "thank you" reception. Hopefully, many will be able to attend, but I wanted to take this time to let them know how much their support is appreciated.

As a small footnote to the story of Commodore Hull, I think many people know that I am also involved with a great road race that is held every Thanksgiving along the streets of Shelton and Derby. The Commodore Hull Thanksgiving Day 5K Road Race has been celebrating the achievements since 2002, and will have its ninth race this Thanksgiving. I was recently contacted by a woman who stumbled upon the race website and was thrilled to see his name and story celebrated through the race. What was really interesting is that she told me that she has an oil portrait of Hull done around 1800. It has been in her family for generations. This Saturday, she is bringing the portrait to the Derby Historical Society. I am looking forward to a glimpse of this early portrait of one of the Valley and the country's greatest naval heroes.



For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at http://www.valleyunitedway.org/.

Save Money - Support United Way at the Same Time!

We have added a tremendous new service to the United Way website that I would strongly urge everyone to use immediately! Many people are either not aware of Connecticut's efforts to allow people to select the generator for their electricity - and save a great deal of money at the same time - but we are now making it easier on both accounts! At United Way, we are very supportive of efforts to support Family Financial Stability, and saving on your electric bill is a quick and easy way to do so!

We recently reached an agreement with DiscountPower, Inc., a new Shelton based company, to help facilitate consumer use of their service - and to support Valley United Way at the same time. If you visit our website, you will find all the information and a link to a page where you can enroll and begin to save money by switching your supplier to DiscountPower. You'll save quite a bit depending on your actual usage. The more you use, the more you save.

I am tremendously excited about this new program because of my own experiences. Like many others, when the state first announced that you could switch your provider, I procrastinated figuring that it wasn't worth the effort and that it would be too difficult and confusing. After a couple of months, I finally sat down at the computer and decided that I should at least learn more. Within a matter of minutes I found all the information that I needed and realized that I needed to sign up immediately. I quickly located my electric bill and very rapidly enrolled. The process could not have been simpler, and within two months, my bill reflected the new energy supplier on the generation part of the bill along with the new, lower rate that I was paying. In my case, it has ranged from a low of $20 a month to a high of just over $30, though I expect that my next bill is going to be much higher because of the recent heat!

That made it very easy for me to support this new program when we had the opportunity, and I have already switched over. What does it mean for United Way? Actually, it's not a lot - at least in any one installment. Based on my previous use, United Way will get about $1.50 - $3 a month, but they will get something every month as long as I continue to use DirectPower. That $2 - $3 comes as a donation from DirectPower, not out of the savings that I am getting from switching providers. It's a win-win situation all the way around.

On top of the discount, I also signed up for the free home energy audit, and later this month I will be having that done. I'll write about that later, but I was pleased to know that another local business, Dr. EnergySaver will be doing the audit.



For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

A Fun Side to United Way

 With all the recent heat, I thought today would be a good day to take a break from the more serious side of United Way to talk about some of the "lighter" news. As you can see from the graphic above, United Ways all over New England are participating in Six Flags New England's two United Way Fun Days, and the first is coming up this Saturday, July 31. Six flags is allowing United Way supporters to buy specially discounted tickets for the day through an on-line ordering process. The deal includes all day admission to Six Flags New England and Hurricane Harbor Water Park, free parking and an "All You Can Eat" buffet. The total value of the package is $77.00, but the special United Way price for the day is $40.00. We have a link on our website, or you can simply click here to go directly to the site. A portion of the ticket price will go back to United Way. The deadline for tickets for this Saturday is today, so you'll need to rush!

If you like baseball, our good friends at BIC and the Bridgeport Bluefish have a deal for you as well.As part of their annual campaign for United Way, BIC are having a special night at Harbor Yard on Tuesday, August 3. The Bluefish will be playing the York Revolution, and you get get a ticket for $10 which includes a special Kids Eat Free event for kids age 12 and under. Simply click here, and enter "Bic" as the password to purchase your tickets. A portion of the ticket price will go back to United Way.

So go out and have some fun, and at the same time, you will be benefiting United Way.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Leadership Greater Valley Accepting Applications

One of the great things that we are involved with at Valley United Way is community leadership. Earlier this year we had several stories about our own Youth Leadership program, but it's that time of year when we switch gears and talk about Leadership Greater Valley - a unique leadership program conducted jointly by Valley United Way, the Valley Council for Health & Human Services and the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce. Now in its 15th year, this program is uniquely by and for the Valley, and produces outstanding new leaders for the Valley every year.

Class of 2009

The program has really evolved. Originally, it was a program of United Way and the Valley Council. It's focus was a bit more narrow in promoting diversity in volunteer leadership positions throghout the Valley and much of the training focused on board skills. United Way wrote and administered grants that supported the the program. There was a consensus that the long term success of the program would need to include greater involvement by the business community. And then Bill Purcell arrived at the Chamber in our "All America" year of 2000. One of Bill's goals was to develop a leadership program at the Chamber. The connections were obvious, and the program was renamed Leadership Greater Valley with the three partners working together to carry on the program. The Chamber now provides the administrative support to coordinate the efforts of our volunteer committee.

What makes this program so unique is the blending of personal skills and knowledge of the community that is interwoven throughout the eight week program. This year's program includes eight sessions with the topics ranging from qualitites of leadership to the history of the Valley. Along the way, the participants have the opportunity to meet and mingle with leaders from every walk of life in the Valley. At the end of the program, they bring their new skills and contacts back to their business life - and also their community life as our Volunteer Center Director Pat Tarasovic works with them to find a placement in a volunteer leadership postition in the Valley. Two former participants are currently my "bosses" as members of Valley United Way's Board of Directors - Adrienne Cabral and Eileen Lopez-Cordone.

Leadership Greater Valley now has its own "alumni" association linking all past members of the program. They now have their own Facbook site which you can find by clicking here.

I personally try to get to as many of the sessions as possible. Not only to take pictures of the sessions, but also because I find that I learn something new at just about every session. I would highly recommend this program to anyone looking to develop their personal leadership skills and to learn more about the great community where we live and work.

Nancie Gray has put together this year's application, and you can get it by clicking here.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Nick is in the home stretch

Take a minute to think just how far Nick Tarasovic has gone while training for the Revolutiion3 Cedar Point iron man event to be held in Septmeber. When Nick sends me his weekly reports to update our website, I seldom stop to contemplate what they are adding up to. Through Sunday, Nick has accumulated 3,722 miles of motion on land and in the water. That means he's already done the equivalent of a trip across country to Los Angeles - and he's now well on his way back. I get tired just thinking of the hours that have gone into it so far - and how much more is still to come before it's over!

With the Tour deFrance currently reaching a conclusion, I think many people are getting a greater appreciation for the difficulty involved, but I also think it gives one a better understanding of just how difficult Nick's quest is. He is training to do 112 miles on a bike in one day, but he is also going to run a marathon and swim 2.4 miles the same day!!

I do a bit of running myself (OK, maybe running would be overstating my speed!), and I can appreciate the tenacity that Nick has in getting out there almost every single day. There are lots of days where I just don't feel like running - so I don't. When Nick feels that way, he just puts the thoughts out of his mind and gets going. I think he has many motivations, but the funds that he is raising for United Way, the Y, the Umbrella and TEAM, Inc. certainly looms large as attested to by the more than $6,500 that has been pledged already.

I need to get in a plug for another aspect of Nick's training as part of his training regimen will include swimming in the The First Ever Housy One-Miler Swim to raise money for GRIFFIN HOSPITAL DEVELOPMENT FUND INC. on August 22. If you want to motivate Nick for that and contribute to the new Brest Wellness Center, click here.

Keep up the good work Nick!!

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Electronic Valley put Valley on the World Wide Web

Back in the early '90's the Valley was suffering a bit of an identity crisis due to the sudden demise of the local daily newspaper, The Evening Sentinel, and the only local radio station, WADS. Love them or hate them, everyone read the Sentinel and listened to WADS to keep up with the latest news in their hometown.The lack of a local daily and radio station was identified as a real community issue by the Healthy Valley 2000 project which was gearing up at that time. Healthy Valley was concerned with the quality of life of the community and saw the lack of truly local mass media as a detriment to the community.

There was quite a buzz about the same time being created by this new media - the World Wide Web - but not many had access to it. Here at Valley United Way we were very intrigued by the possibilities to better serve our constituents and had been experimenting with the forerunners of the Internet  in the form of Compuserve and an emerging AOL among other services, but they were slow and cumbersome to use as well as being expensive.

Then one day, I happened to notice that a local business man, John Joy of Oxford, was working with the Internet and offering community groups the opportunity to post information on his website for Oxford about services that might be available to residents. A quick call and suddenly United Way was up on his site and providing 25 word descriptions of the agencies that we funded.

As Healthy Valley was working on the media issue in the Valley, it became apparent that there was a real opportunity here to move the Valley forward through the use of new technologies. We couldn't afford to start a newspaper or a radio station, but we could afford to venture into the new electronic media. A committee was formed and quickly determined that we would opt for the full blown Internet rather than the competing BBS services that some communities were starting. That decision proved to be the correct one, and we recruited the artists at the Greenwich Workshop in Shelton to help with the design of that first page and the icons linking us to the information that we thought people would want to know about the Valley.

We created websites for all of the Valley towns and many of its nonprofits.We also created pages highlighting categories of interest that we thought cut across all of the towns. Interestingly, the site was not called the Electronic Valley. Originally, the site address was www.LNVvalley.org. If you enter that URL, it still works. The LNV stood for Lower Naugatuck Valley, but we soon found that people confused the L with an i and many had trouble finding the site. So we made it easier - but longer - with www.electronicvalley.org. (The invalley.org still works as well!)

This was entirely a volunteer project made possible by our technical guru John Joy whose computer expertise made the difficult seem easy. He did all of the back end work and hosted the site - he still does for the Electronic Valley data. Others helped with the content and creation of pages. Grants from local foundations allowed us to purchase computers which were given to local organizations such as libraries, nursing homes and other public groups that agreed to take the computers and allow the public in to use them. We provided software and classes for those who wanted to learn how to create content and put it on the Electronic Valley.

In very short order, the Valley had a very robust and informative web portal. Originally, all the pages had addressess such as Valley United Way's - www.lnvalley.org/vuw. Each city was www.lnavalley.org/cityname. Over time, we envisioned that groups would eventually get their own sites and we would simply link to them. United Way is now valleyunitedway.org, but we never forget that it was the Electronic Valley that allowed us the opportunity to get our feet wet and learn how to use this new media. At one point, United Way of America named our website the best in the country for United way's our size or smaller. Connecticut Magazine named the Electronic Valley one of the 50 best websites in Connecticut!

The Electronic Valley continues to thrive, and I was prompted to write this because they will be holding their annual meeting in the Lavietes Room at Valley United Way on August16 at 6:00 PM. They will conduct the normal business that you would expect in electing their board and officers, but they are also looking for a new generation of volunteers interested in helping to further develop the Valley's oldest and most comprehensive website. If you are interested, stop by. In the meantime, they have listed some volunteer opportunities on United Way's own unique web tool for volunteers - Volunteer Opportunities. Click here to take a look.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Allocations Committee Did Great Work!

I always tell people that it is very difficult to give money away, and they usually laugh. The reality is that it is difficult to give money away so that it can make a real difference in the community. Here at Valley United Way, we rely on the wisdom of the community in giving away money. Specifically, our Allocations Committee under the able leadership of Chairman Peter Galla is composed of volunteers drawn from all walks of life in the community. The one thing that they have in common is their love for the community and desire to see it always improve.

This year, we had twenty-eight volunteers who responded to our call for help. Some like Rich Bshara and Brian Sexton have been doing this for over twenty years while Anna Davidi, Tracy Hussey, Bill Maloney, and Joe Sedlock were the "rookies" in this year's process. The process actually began in April when area agencies began the preparation of their requests for funding. this is now an on-line system eliminating an enormous amount of paperwork. Agencies are required to submit quite a bit of financial and programmatic data justifying their requests for funding.

 In early May, the volunteers came in for a brief orientation and to receive their assignments. They worked in teams to review the information submitted by the agencies. Over the course of the next month they also had the opportunity to visit with the agencies to get a first hand look at the programs that the agencies run. This really helps to put a face on all the numbers that the agencies have submitted previously. After meeting with the agencies and reviewing the submitted applications, the volunteer submitted their own evaluations and their recommendations for funding.

At that point, the volunteers came back to meet in three panels to review and refine their recommendations. At that point, they did not know exactly how much money would be available for allocations and were making their recommendations strictly based on their evaluations. They then worked on their panels to bring their numbers in line with the number that United Way's finance committee would make available to them. A week later, the panel heads go together one last time to bring the panel recommendations in synch with the final number from the Finance Committee. They did an outstanding job, and a week later the numbers were presented to United Way's Board of Directors for action.

The Board of Directors has a great deal of respect for both the Allocations and Finance Committees and it is ultimately up to them to approve, reject or modify the recommendations. This year they adopted the recommendations as presented to them.

I want to thank everyone who served this year. It is not easy making the tough funding decisions made much tougher by the current economic uncertainty, but they did an outstanding job. They were fair and open minded and did their best to insure that the dollars invested in the agencies returns the greatest possible benefit to the community - and to the donors who make this all possible.

I want to personally thank everyone who helped this year. You can find the complete listing of all the volunteers and the allocations that they made this year at http://www.valleyunitedway.org/2010/allocations.htm.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Busy week brings Corporate Cup

 Last week was probably the busiest week that we have ever had with the Community Corporate Cup since it first started nineteen years ago. From the Run/Walk event on Wednesday to the Wiffleball and Bocce on Saturday, the weather was a constant, but not insurmountable challenge. The spirit and sportsmanship shown by all of the competitiors throughout was extraordinary.

We held our breath all day Wednesday hoping that the rain would hold off, but by the time the race started it was cold, windy and rainy. Many of our walkers and a couple of runners decided to stay dray and at-home, but 90 Corporate Cup participants joined over100 others running in the Valley YMCA 5K Sunset Race for a dash through Ansonia's Hilltop. Michael Zascicinghs of TEAM, Inc. was the first Corporate Cup participant across the line, but I think that it is safe to say that everyone who finished felt like a winner under the conditions. I ran in my first race in two years, and was quite pleased to win the 60 and over division. We had the CEO's from BIC (Mario Cuevas) and PerkinElmer (Dusty Tenney) in the race as well, and they both posted impressive times as did Bill Purcell, head of the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce who zipped around the course with a 7:33 pace. The food after the race was outstanding, and it is one of the few races that I ever remember having pasta after the race. On such a deary night, it was just the thing to warm everyone up.


Saturday turned out a bit better weather wise though some light showers towards the end of the day threatened the conclusion of both Bocce and Wiffleball. It was quite a day as we had to lay out our six "ballparks" in time for the 9:00 am start. We would really like to thank Thaddeus Kurkowski of CDW-G for showing up early and lending a hand. TK competed in the Wiffleball tournament later in the morning. I also want to thank Bob Van Egghen for his help as our unofficial official during the Bocce tournament with his precise measurements! And it goes without saying that Chris Phipps and Sue Reilly of the Y did a great job in putting all the pieces together.


Both events turned out to be full of surprises and great comebacks. In Bocce, we were down to three teams competing following the suspension of the tournament due to darkness on May 25. It looked like it was going to be a quick exit for Kevin Dunn and Nora Espinel of BIC as they fell behind early in their losers bracket final with PerkinElmer. However, they managed to pick up four straight points in one round and go on to take that game before topping Mike Figueroa and Matt McKenney in two straight well played games to win the title.

The Wiffleball tournament was just as exciting as PerkinElmer came back from a crushing 7-6 loss to United Illuminating to rally through the losers bracket and top Griffin Hospital's 3 Amigos two straight for the title. Their one loss came in the bottom of the last inning when United Illuminating rallied from a 6-3 deficit with a walk-off grand slam homer to send PerkinElmer on their run through the losers bracket to the final. Ironically, one of Griffin's wins included Ryan Pereiras' walk-off grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the last inning for a 4-1 win that kept them alive in the winners bracket. PerkinElmer disposed of Griffin 3-0 in their first game, and had them 3-0 when Griffin staged an amazing 8 run rally to take an 8-3 lead. PerkinElmer was down to their last strike and trailing by 8-4 when they ran off eight straight runs to take a 12-8 lead. Griffin rallied for two runs in their last at bat, but it wasn't enough to keep PerkinElmer from winning their second straight Wiffleball tournament.

So now the competition is over, but we don't have a winner as yet. BIC stands precariously atop the standings with a 2.5 point lead. However, the Healthy Team results have yet to be added in, and it is always a high scoring event. Those results will not be announced until June 22 at the awards reception. Until then, I think we will just let the suspense build! We'll have a full story and all the results on June 22.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Being Good and Doing Good!

PerkinElmer at the 2009 race

When the Community Corporate Cup Run/Walk is held tonight, PerkinElmer's team will not only be working on their own health and well being, but also supporting the health of the enitre community. They are in the thick of the hunt for a fourth straight Community Corporate Cup title, and they have over 60 employees either running or walking in tonight's event making them the largest single group involved. What really makes them different than any other group this year is that they will also be generating funds for Griffin Hospital's Breast Wellness Center. PerkinElmer will be donating $20 for every employee that will be walking and $30 for every employee who will be running. Just doing some very quick math, it appears that they will raise approximately $1,600 for the Center. On top of that, some of the runners are soliciting individual pledges in support of their efforts.

The Community Corporate Cup is an incredible event that brings together local businesses in the pursuit of a healthier life style, community spirit and company morale through a varitey of competitive athletics centered on the Healthy Team competition. One of the great developments has been the incredibly good sportsmanship shown by all of the competitiors. PerkinElmer's effort tonight adds a whole new dimension to ways to do good while also being good to yourself, and we congratulate them on both.

We wish them well along with all of the other runners and walkers who will be involved tonight. Let's hope that the rain holds off. By the way, we are still looking for volunteers to help with the race tonight. If you are interested, give Sue Reilly a call at the Y - 203 736-1435.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

VSAAC Turns Twenty

This morning I attended the Valley Substance Abuse Action Council's 20th Anniversary Celebration - and it doesn't seem possible that it is twenty years since its founding. United Way played a major role in the start of VSAAC as a result of a Government Breakfast hosted by United Way back in 1990. The name of our speaker that day escapes me, but he was the state commissioner in charges of the state's substance abuse programs at the time.He came to the breakfast at the old Rapp's Restaurant (now John J. Sullivan's) in Ansonia to talk about a new state effort aimed at prevention rather than treatment.

 The state had just instituted funding for 13 programs based on a very successful model called RYSAP in Bridgeport. The concept was to form Regional Action Councils (RACs) which would be coalitions of community leaders with heavy youth involvement in an effort to deal with substance abuse issues. The Valley was not one of the 13 areas for which funding had been implemented. However, his speech struck a cord with those in the room that day, and shortly thereafter we formed a coalition of those interested int he problem to see if the concept would work here in the Valley.

Within a few weeks, our committee held a full day community retreat at the United Illuminating in Shelton involving nearly 100 people including mayors, state legislators, superintendents of schools, principals, teachers, police and many, many students. There was a sense of urgency and commitment in the room that day that drew the attention of the state. Though money had been allocated for the 13 other communities in the state, not much had been accomplished in many of them. The state was so impressed by what had already taken place in the Valley and the cooperation that was so evident in the room, that they went back and found the money to allow the Valley to create its own RAC - now known as VSAAC.

For the first few months, it was actually based in our office in the Ansonia Copper and Brass building in Ansonia and we served as host and fiduciary for them until they got their own 501 c 3 nonprofit status. They eventually moved to St. Joseph's in Shelton thanks to the support of Father Robert Weiss who served as Chairman of the Board. Years later, they came under the umbrella of the Birmingham Group where they continue to flourish today.

I don't have time or space to name all of the wonderful people who were involved with starting VSAAC and ensuring its future - maybe another day. For now - Happy 20th Birthday.


For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.