February 9, 2012

Valley United Way Has A New Home

Welcome to Valley United Way 54 Grove Street - Shelton

Valley United Way is now open for business in its new location at 54 Grove Street in Shelton - the old Lafayette School. The move was completed just last week after two months of hard work and "sweat equity".

Valley United Way joins Center Stage Theatre as a tenant in a creative readaptive use of the former elementary school as a new community nonprofit center made possible by the City of Shelton. Fred Ortoli, Chairman of the United Way Board of Directors said that the project was a tribute to cooperation among the government, nonprofit and business communities to make the project a success. He thanked Mayor Mark Lauretti and the Board of Aldermen for making the effort viable by providing United Way with an affordable lease that also helps to ensure the success of the building - parts of which have served the City of Shelton since 1911.

Lavietes Conference Room

Jack Walsh, President & C.O.O. at United Way noted that the project was made financially feasible by grants, in-kind donations and the tireless efforts by volunteers who did most of the work on the project. He said that the new facility could not have been completed if not for grants from the Katharine Matthies Foundation, the Raymond P. Lavietes Foundation, the Pitney Bowes Foundation, the Valley Community Foundation, United Illuminating and Better Packages.

Walsh went further in saying, "It was Mike Marcinek and his wonderful employees at Fletcher Thompson who really put the whole project together by taking a vision and making it a reality. They did all the design work on the project, and then volunteered to do most of the work. They were here nights, holidays and weekends since December 1, moving the project to completion." He said that they had also secured donations of the carpeting and ceiling tiles throughout the facility. "Quite frankly, this project could not have happened without Mike and his team at FletcherThompson," said Walsh. 

Matthies Conference Room

The office furniture for the new facility was donated by HealthNet with the incredible assistance of Debbie Lewis, Manager of Facilities Services, who coordinated all of the the logistics. 

Students from the carpentry shop at Emmett O'Brien Regional Technical School were also involved in building new walls as part of the project.

The new facility contains not only United Way's working space, but also two conference rooms which will be used by area nonprofits. The very first meeting in the new facility was a Valley Council for Health & Human Services breakfast with area legislators held on January 24.

A formal grand opening and recognition of everyone involved is being planned, but stop by and visit at any time. There are many pictures of the project on the United Way website that you can see by clicking here.

Laurel Vicidomino

 Laurel Is Moving On

After five years of dedicated service to Valley United Way as the Director of Resource Development, Laurel Greco Vicidomino will be leaving to assume a full time position managing Townline Self-Storage, LLC in Derby. Townline Self-Storage is one of two businesses owned by her family - the other being Greco & Haines, Inc. Both companies have a combined longevity of 71 years in business in the Valley.

For the past 22 years, and since her father's passing, Laurel has managed the daily operations of the storage business, while at the same time, continuing her full time work at United Way. However, in planning for the future of the family business, Laurel has decided that now is the appropriate time for her to make a full transition into managing the storage business.

"Though this decision has been a difficult one for me to make, I am happy I will be able to remain a volunteer with the Valley United Way and continue to support their wonderful mission," Vicidomino said. She said that she has been enriched by the many professional colleagues she has worked with, and friends she has made, who have the same passion and desire as she does to help others in the community.

Jack Walsh, President & C.O.O. of Valley United Way said, "We are really going to miss Laurel and all that she brought to Valley United Way. Anyone who has ever met Laurel has been touched by her enthusiasm, generosity of spirit and commitment to the community. She has been a real asset for us, and I'm sure that she will continue to build on the successful businesses of the Greco family which are part of the business success story in the Valley.

Youth Leaders Completing One Year - And Beginning a New One

Members of the Valley United Way's Youth Leadership Program are heading to Camp Jewell in Colerook this weekend for a special allocations retreat. This is the final activity of the year for the current group as they will complete their training and put their skills to work in reviewing and making decisions on their small grants project. It will not be easy for them as they have received many worthwhile applications totaling requests that go well beyond the $2,000 that they have available to distribute. We'll have the full story and decisions in our next newsletter and on our website.

As one year is wrapping up, we are now accepting applications for the 2012-2013 program. Current freshmen, sophomores and juniors who live in the Valley attending any public or private high school are eligible to apply. Information and an application can be found by clicking here.

Charles H. Flynn

Nominate Someone for the Charles H. Flynn Humanitarian Award

The Charles H. Flynn Humanitarian Award is the oldest and most prestigious community service award in the Valley, and United Way is now accepting nominations for the 2012 award which will be presented at United Way's annual meeting and awards dinner in April.

To learn more about the award, its past recipients and this year's nomination process, click here.

2012 Corporate Cup Kicks off Monday

Guys and Dolls

Center Stage Theatre's production of Guys and Dolls has been playing to sellout audiences and rave reviews. The production closes this weekend and you can click here for information and tickets.