Valley United Way Celebrates 40th Anniversary

Valley United Way celebrated its 40th anniversary at its Annual Meeting and Awards Reception on April 29, 2008 before a crowd of approximately 250! For the first time ever the event was sponsored, as the Barnum Financial Group, An Office of MetLife was the main sponsor of the event. the event which was held at John J. Sullivan's restaurant in Ansonia.

Valley United Way first opened its doors on Kingston Drive in Ansonia in 1968. It brought together the Derby/Shelton Community Chest, Ansonia Community Chest and the Seymour United Fund under the umbrella of the new Valley United Fund. Over the years, the name was changed to Valley United Way and the offices moved to the Ansonia Copper & Brass building in Ansonia for over twenty years and then to its current Shelton location in 2006.

This year's annual meeting began with the formal business program as corporators and board members were elected first. Outgoing Board Chair Ruth Parkins served as master of ceremonies. Officers of the Board including new Board Chair Mike Marcinek were then elected before the Annual Report was accepted and Ruth reviewed the status of United Way and highlights of the past year. Following dinner, Jack Ribas, Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley was presented with the prestigious Charles H. Flynn Humanitarian Award.

It was then Mike Marcinek's turn at the podium as he presented small gifts to the members of his cabinet before presenting the 2008 Campaign awards. He then introduced Dave Grant as the Chairman for the 2008-2209 campaign. Grant expressed his thoughts for the upcoming campaign and invited everyone to join his team for the new campaign. He also unveiled the new United Way "Live United" t-shirts which were distributed to everyone in attendance at the end of the evening. United Way President and C.O.O. spoke briefly before the program closed.

Whether you were there or not, you'll enjoy a photo album of Fred Ortoli's pictures from the evening by clicking here. You can also see several of the speeches by clicking on the videos below:

Valley United Way Home Page