Back to School Clothes for Kids in Shelton This Year

The line was out the door as kids couldn't wait to get to school! Enjoy a slide show of pictures taken by photographer Fred Ortoli by clicking here

The Corporate Volunteer Council of the Volunteer Action Center of Valley United Way has run another successful Back to School Clothes for Kids project. This year, 206 students at Lafayette and Sunnyside Schools in Shelton received their very own box of new clothing to begin their school year. This is the largest number of children ever outfitted in one year. A total of 1498 Valley Youth have been outfitted since the program first started bringing the total dollars spent by Valley companies on this project to $273,615.00.

Superintendent of Shelton Schools, Robin Willinck could not believe her eyes. She was just overwhelmed with the entire project. She was so happy to walk around and personally thank the companies and then talk to the ecstatic children who had received all of these beautiful clothes and a full backpack.

The 2007 Back to School Committee did an amazing job this year! The Committee included:  Carla Sullivan –Barnum Financial, Allison Shortell , Pitney Bowes,  Maria DeMaio, Fletcher, Thompson ,Inc, Michelle Fabozzi, GE, Dotty Cachillo, Derby Wal Mart, Antoinetta Hallet, Prudential-Skandia, Carol Anzidei, Valley United Way.

Back to School Clothes for Kids goal is to provide new clothing to underprivileged children at the start of the school year.  Nationally, statistics show that many children in need miss the first few days of school simply because they do not have new clothes to wear. The hope of the CVC is that by providing the children with clothes and school supplies that they will be encouraged to do their best while receiving a boost to their self-esteem.

Dave Grant Catering once again provided cookies and punch for over 200 children. Enterprise Car Rental provided a popcorn machine to make popcorn for the children. CDW-G is providing $1,000 each in technical support to Lafayette and Sunnyside Schools. Derby Wall Mart is providing 67 packages of socks and underwear and undershirts to each school. Fletcher-Thompson,Inc. provided pencil cases for all of the children and Louis Zayas from W.B. Mason provided trucks and pencils. Louis also volunteered his great music as a DJ for all the children to hear during the afternoon. 

Bill Bubbico, CVC Co Chair and Vice President Strategic Business Transformation of
Pitney Bowes Global Financial Services said, “Pitney Bowes is very focused on literacy and education. Pitney Bowes employees actively embrace this program which helps so many children start their education on the right foot.”  Pitney Bowes has supported this program for many years and I am proud to see that Pitney Bowes employees continue to raise the bar and have a greater impact on the community. Pitney Bowes employees adopted 62 children which is the most they have ever outfitted.

Adrienne Cabral CVC Co Chair and Public Relations Representative of Iroquois Gas Transmission Systems, said “It was great to see the corporations come together to support this wonderful program. Our numbers were huge this year and we were able to meet every child’s need.”

Dotty Cacchillo, Personnel Mgr/Community Relations Coordinator of Derby Wal-Mart, said  “Derby Wal-Mart is pleased to be a part of this event with Valley United Way’s CVC and is looking forward to doing  more in the future for our community.” 

Maria DeMaio, Senior Accounting Manager of Fletcher-Thompson,Inc said  that her  family of four sisters were adorable. They were the youngest of 9 children. The youngest was so excited to receive everything she got. The entire family seemed genuinely happy for everything they received. It makes you feel so good inside knowing you helped someone and seeing the smile on their faces.” 

Michelle Fabozi, GE Customer relations Specialist, said that her little girl was going through her bin and loved all of the pink princess shirts and clothing and then she got to her coat. She immediately put in on and was so happy with the biggest smile on her face., she absolutely loved her new light green cat with pin on the inside of the jacket. She was standing there holding her jacket very tightly while she was wearing it and smiling from head to toe. It was so nice to see how appreciative she was and how happy she was that she is going to school with all of her new things. 

Carla Supersano Sullivan, Community Relations Manager at Barnum Financial Group said, "The Back to School Clothes for Kids program is the perfect example of corporate citizenship. Barnum Financial Group is an active member of the Valley United Way Corporate Volunteer Council and I am so proud that our company adopted 34 children from Sunnyside School...twice as many as we supported in 2006. As a member of the Shelton Board of Education, I am thrilled that Shelton students were chosen this year to receive the tremendous generosity of the CVC."
 

All of the 2006 Lafayette and Sunnyside students received two new outfits, a coat or jacket and a backpack full of school supplies such as pens, pencils, paper and colorful markers.  Companies traditionally spend between $175 and $200 on each child.

The Corporate Volunteer Council is a coalition of local businesses and corporations that have an active employee volunteer involvement program.  The Corporations that participated in this year’s Back to School Clothes for Kids were: A Plus Staffing, Altair Global, Barnum Financial, Basement Systems, CAPS, CDW-G, Computershare, Dave Grant Caterer’s, DeDonator Biuilders, Derby WalMart,Emhart Teknologies, EnteCap TeFinancial, F.W. Serra, Fletcher Thompson, GE, Hamworthy Peabody, Hasler Inc, HSBC Bank USA, Iroquois Gas, Kerite Company, Lifetowuch Studios, Market Data Retrieval, Marks of Design, Microsol, Naugatuck Savings Bank, NEC Infrontia, Ned Miller Associates, Perkin Elmer, Pitney Bowes, Professional Travel/Homewood Suites by Hilton, Prudential-Skandia, The Hartford, The McIntrye Group, Warner Financial and  Webster Bank.

Enjoy a slide show of pictures taken by photographer Fred Ortoli by clicking here.

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