June 21, 2012 

 Day of Action

Today is United Way's National Day of Action.

The Corporate Volunteer Council has embraced the Day of Action wholeheartedly by taking on the task of collecting food for the Valley Food Bank at the Spooner House. The need for food never goes away but it is especially needed during the summer when children who would usually get free meals at school are home and in need of nutrition.

The CVC constantly amazes us with its responsiveness and today was no different. A huge box of food was gathered at PerkinElmer for the CVC meeting this morning where other members added to the box or planned on bringing their donations to the food bank themselves.

Several CVC companies even decided to continue their food collections throughout the summer."No child should fear where their next meal will come from." Alexis Tomczak, Associate Product Manager of PerkinElmer's branch in Shelton, says as she describes PerkinElmer's food collection. PerkinElmer employees had originally planned on collecting kid friendly food until June 21st, Valley United Way's "Day of Action" when they first contacted employees on the 13th. Now they have decided to collect and take donations into August. So far PerkinElmer employees have collected 6 bags of food and $90 to be spent on more food for the Valley Food Bank at Spooner House.

Despite scorching temperatures, CVC member, Sikorsky, has dedicated itself to working on a project at the Boys & Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley as part of the Day of Action. Photos and story to follow.

Everyday should be a day of action as there are always people in need. We are sending out a Valley Call to Action for everyone who can help. Bring donations of non-perishable food to the Valley Food Bank at the Spooner House located at 30 Todd Road, Shelton, CT. The only way we can end hunger in the Valley is to Live United.

Here's a list of specific items the food bank needs:

Grape jelly

Fruit (canned)

Tuna fish (canned)

Peanut butter

Pancake mix

Syrup

Crackers (ritz/saltines)

Tea

Tomato sauce

Pasta Sides (Knorr/Lipton/store brand)

Cereal

The State of Connecticut Labor Department reaches out to employees of companies affected by staff reductions by dispatching members of its Rapid Response Early Intervention Team to talk with those soon to be unemployed, inform them about their rights and responsibilities, tell them how to collect unemployment insurance, and detail various other options available to them.  

Fletcher Thompson Was Best in Golf

David Giamalis, Bob Klein, Nicole Nemeth and Andy Krochko

Fletcher Thompson emerged as the winner of this year's Corporate Cup golf tournament with a total score of 180 - 2 shots better than runners-up CDW
-G Off in the Woods.  

Nicole Nemeth, Andy Krochko, Bob Klein and David Giamalis all managed to break 50 for Fletcher Thompson's #2 team with Nicole's 43 being their low score. CDW-G's Off in the Woods team of Geoff Bertkau, Brian Harris, Corey Goodman and Andrew Mihalko was next in the standings and Geoff's score of 41 was the best individual score of the day. Click here for the complete results and pictures. 

 Meet Our New Interns 

Samantha Kelly is the Chief Storyteller at Valley United Way. With a background in freelance Graphic Design, Samantha joined the staff recently. Her passion for visual and digital communication plays a major role in her storytelling position at United Way. Samantha will receive a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Media/Marketing from Fairfield University in 2013. She has been a member of the Dean's Honor Roll since spring 2011 as well as a recipient of two Dale Carnegie Awards for Public Speaking.

Samantha is working as a student intern through a grant from the Raymond P. Lavietes Foundation.

You can reach Samantha via e-mail at graphics@valleyunitedway.org 

Parvati Vaish is the Marketing and PR Intern at Valley United Way. Parvati is a rising Senior at Babson College (Wellesley, MA) set to graduate in December, 2012. She is majoring in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing, Global Business Management and Strategic Management and hopes to be a Marketing Consultant upon graduation. 

Parvati was a Youth Leadership member from 2007 to 2009 and co-president of the program in 2009. Since then she has interned with Pat Tarasovic on two other occasions. Parvati says that "working at Valley United Way is, and always has been such a wonderful experience because of the opportunities the internship gives me to enhance my learning both professionally and personally. Working here is the perfect opportunity to grow and learn."

June is LEAVE A LEGACY^® Connecticut Month, and is a perfect time to consider incorporating a charitable gift into your estate plan. By leaving a gift to your favorite charity, you can support the causes that you care about and leave a lasting legacy for your community. 

By leaving a bequest in your will you will leave a legacy which will support Valley United Way for years to come. 

For more information on how you can Leave A Legacy and support Valley United Way, please contact valleyunitedway@valleyunitedway.org.    

 Valley United Way has teamed up with First Benefit for a free prescription discount program that can also include additional healthcare discounts designed to help individuals and families with medical expenses.  Click here for find out more.

A Couple of Other Events to Consider

We thought you might be interested in these upcoming events: Pedal for PCRC Sunday, July 15, 2012   First annual Pedal for PCRC Participants can register to cycle for 15, 30, or 62 mile rides.   Click here for information

Click here for complete information   

 2nd Thursday of each month at Shelton Senior Center (81 Wheeler Street, Shelton) at 5:30 PM.
  

This program conducted by the Valley Senior Services Council is funded by a Special Needs Grant from Valley United Way. Click here for the full schedule.