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Seasons Greetings |
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Wishing you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a very special New Year from our United Way family to yours. We are especially grateful during this time of year for your generous community support and you'll see plenty of holiday spirit in this e-newsletter!
Board of Directors |
Holidays Bring Out Best From Area Corporations
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| The Corporate Volunteer Council is an incredible community resource at any time of year. However, the outpouring of holiday spirit exhibited this year has been extraordinary. CVC members like Gexpro (pictured above) are pitching in to ensure that 70 needy Valley families will have something special to celebrate this year. Valley United Way's office has looked like a combination of Santa Claus' workshop and the gift wrapping department at Macy's as area corporations drop off an exceptional variety of gifts to fulfill any family's holiday wishes. The full story and many more pictures can be found on the website. Thank you CVC members! |
Energizer shares the "Energy"
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| Energizer Personal Care moved to the Valley just about a year ago, but on December 14, they made an incredible difference in the Valley as approximately 150 employees appeared at agencies all over the Valley for a very personal example of how to make a difference. You can read all about it and see many more pictures by clicking here. |
| Campaign Making Considerable Progress
As the holiday season continues in a flurry, Valley United Way campaign results are trickling in. Although the economy is struggling, many of our donors understand the needs in our community and are pledging dollars to help. Over the last few weeks, we have seen great results from the W.E. Bassett Company who increased their donations almost 6% over last year and Iroquois Gas Transmission Systems with an increase of 4.4% over last year. Also, unofficial results have been returned from BlumShapiro with a 787% increase over last year!
Other completed campaigns include the City of Shelton, Ansonia Schools, Shelton Police Department, Vishay Semiconductor, Venman & Co., LLC and the Town of Oxford. In addition, the following campaigns are winding down and we are looking forward to their results in the very near future. They include Curtiss Ryan, R.D. Scinto, California Closets, BIC, Energizer Personal Care, The Kerite Company, Spectrum Group, City of Ansonia, City of Derby, Town of Seymour and the Human Resources Consulting Group.
These campaigns would not be possible without the energetic efforts of each company's campaign coordinator. They provide the time, talent and commitment it takes to run successful campaigns in their respective workplaces. With heartfelt thanks we would like to recognize them and the important role they play. These dedicated volunteers help make our community an even better place to live. Our sincere thanks go out to:
Linda McPhail-W.E. Bassett Company
Adrienne Cabral and her team-Iroquois Gas Transmission Systems
Charleen DeFilippo-City of Shelton
Missy Cook & Paula Tyszka-Ansonia Schools
Trish Bruder-Shelton Police Department
Paula Scinto & Kim Boveri-Vishay Intertechnologies
Kelly Weymer-Town of Oxford
Jennifer Keever-Curtiss Ryan
Bill Piaciatelli-R.D. Scinto
Cathy Brennan-California Closets
Carl Vensel and his team-BIC
Sue Testone & Ed Meyer-Spectrum Group
Jean Axtell-Energizer Personal Care
JoLynn Flaherty-City of Ansonia
Denise Cesaroni-City of Derby
Deidre Caruso-Town of Seymour
Robin Imbrogno-Human Resource Consulting Group
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| You can get the latest campaign updates by clicking here. |
| Everyone Wins as Jones Farms Take Facebook Challenge Title
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 Valley United Way would like to express its gratitude to Jones Family Farms for their friendly social media competition, which benefited three charities - Valley United Way, The Guilford Community Fund and Working Lands Alliance. Jones Family Farms of Shelton and Bishop's Orchards in Guilford each agreed to donate $1 for each new fan registering as "Fans" to their Facebook page, up to a total of 5,000 fans.
Congratulations to Jones Farms for winning the competition by signing up about 1,200 more fans than Bishop's during the month-long contest.The final results show Jones Farm defeated Bishop's with a total score of 5,806-4,929. Because of the terms of the contest, Keith Bishop spent a day's work bailing beautiful Christmas trees at Jones Farm.Special thanks to Bishop's Orchards for participating and providing assistance to the Guilford Community Fund.
Jack Walsh, President and COO of Valley United Way, said, "We are thrilled that Jones Family Farms is such a community advocate for the Valley and its surrounding towns. Thank you to the Jones family and to all the Facebook fans for your support, which directly impacted the generous donation of $1,750.In these difficult times when more people than ever before are requiring assistance, you showed how a community can truly Live United."
Since winning the competition, Jones Family Farms now has over 6,000 Facebook fans and a very active digital community.Links to their social media accounts can be found on their website at www.jonesfamilyfarms.com.
Valley United Way is also a very active user of social media to show the impact that we are having on the community.Please visit www.valleyunitedway.org, or use any of the links in this newsletter to visit our Twitter, Facebook for more information. |
| Youth Groups Share Holiday Spirit |
 Valley United Way Youth Leaders were once again called to action, only this time as Christmas elves to lend a holiday hand in Santa's visit. Santa Claus, Kris Kringle, yes the big man in red, stopped into Shelton's corporate park on December 10th in support of a local 3rd annual Toys for Tots fundraiser.
Bob Scinto and his daughter Katie asked for some assistance from Valley United Way in preparing for Santa's arrival and sharing the holiday spirit. The Youth Leaders, playing the role of elves, helped bake cookies, sing to the children and families and lent a keen eye in taking family photos with Mr. Claus along with expert photographer and Valley United Way Campaign Chair Fred Ortoli.
Santa came into town from 3-7pm, where he posed in family pictures with the children and families of corporate park tenants and employees. Santa was also able to collect all the toys that were brought in for less fortunate children - about 500 toys to be exact. Luckily Santa brought a really big bag and will deliver the presents to TEAM, making sure all the Valley's children can have a Merry Christmas.
Click the image for another story on youth making a difference during the Holidays.
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More Salons Join 'Hair to Cut Hunger'
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Valley United Way in conjunction with many Valley Hair Salons continue to assist the community during this holiday season by collecting non-perishables for our neighbors in need. The drive is now 9 salons strong. Anna Durante owner of Capelli Salon and Sue Thomas owner of Susan Thomas Salon, both of Derby, are the latest additions. The Capelli Salon is also offering some incentives to her clients. With any wash/cut/blow-dry Anna will donate $2 of the service to Valley United Way as well as place the clients name into a raffle for a $50 gift basket of hair supplies. She also wants to continue her food drive into the New Year knowing that the need in the Valley doesn't end with the Christmas holidays.
These hair stylists join the following salons in collecting non-perishables for St. Vincent dePaul of Derby and The Spooner House of Shelton:
Panache Hair Design: 504 Bridgeport Avenue, Shelton 203.925.1990
67 West Hair Designers: 39 New Haven Avenue, Seymour 203.888.2949
Scissors-Hair by Penny: 48 Bridge Street, Ansonia 203.732.2556
New Day Hair & Skin Salon: 500 Howe Avenue, Shelton 203.924.1673
Maria's Hair Gallery: 2 Division Street, Derby 203.734.4247
Kut Rite: 63 New Haven Road, Seymour 203.888.4071
Barber on Main: 328 East Main Street, Ansonia 203.732.0500
Capelli Hair Salon: 131 Main Street, Derby 203.732.1977
Susan Thomas Salon: Imperial Plaza, 676 New Haven Avenue, Derby 203.735.0927
Our sincere thanks go out to everyone involved. All Valley residents are welcome to bring non perishables to any of the participating salons. |
| Find us on Facebook
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Become a fan of our page or friend us on Facebook. We are writing 2-4 blog posts per week by various staff members and capturing video footage from campaigns across the community. See how companies are raising funds in your town. Become a fan of our page |
Prescription Medication Assistance Discount Card
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Valley United Way is working with familywize Community Service Partnership to help promote and distribute discount prescription drug cards, which can be used to help reduce the costs of medications not already covered by health insurance. These cards are free and can be obtained by contacting Valley United Way at (203) 926-9478. You can also print out a card and get a listing of participating pharmacies by clicking here. Through the month of August almost $12,000 has been saved in the Valley in 2009 alone!
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GIVE.
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| Every dollar raised by Valley United Way makes a real difference in the local quality of life. Learn about donating.
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| ADVOCATE. |
| LIVE UNITED by helping us spread the word. Show your committment to community by sharing this newsletter with five people.
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| VOLUNTEER. |
| The Valley United Way Volunteer Center is always open! Visit our Volunteer Solutions website to find or list opportunities.
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| Blood Drive
Tuesday, Dec 29th 7 am - noon Shelton Pointe SCU, 2 Trap Falls Rd., Shelton. Contact the American Red Cross Valley Chapter at (203) 735-9518 to schedule an appointment. |
Introduction to Ice Fishing
Saturday, Jan 9th 10 am - noon at the Kellogg Environmental Center, 500 Hawthorne Ave., Derby. This free event is put on by the Department of Environmental Protection and requires pre-registration. Click here for more information.
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| Blood Drive
Saturday, Jan 16th 8 am- 1 pm at American Legion, 43 Oxford Rd., Oxford. Please contact the American Red Cross Valley Chapter at (203) 735-9518 for appointment information. |
EMT Training Classes
Day and evening classes begin Jan 20th Monday - Thursday until May. Classes are 4 hours long. Tuition for the program is $575 and includes books and materials. The program is conducted at the Echo Hose Ambulance Training Center 286 Howe Ave., Shelton. Click here for more information about the course. |
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