Valley United Way celebrated volunteerism in the Valley with its annual Volunteer of the Year Awards on May 15, 2008 with a reception held at the Kellogg Environmental Center. A large crowd saluted the award recipients and heard stories of the tremendous work that is being done by volunteers in the community. Click on the links below to learn more about this year's winners.

Jim Geissler serves as the chair for both Shelton Youth Service Bureau Advisory Board and the Shelton Juvenile Review Board. Jim actively works with school councilors and social workers to help identify needy students and families providing them with food and clothing. He volunteers his services to Valley United Way, Valley Regional Adult Education, Parent Child Resource Center, TEAM, Interfaith Caregivers, and Youth 2 Youth Peer Advocates. In addition to serving as a mentor in Shelton’s Public Schools, Jim participates in various committees within St. Joseph’s Church in Shelton.

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Kelsey Sullivan is a very active participant in media and performing arts. Kelsey is an 8^th grade student at Shelton Intermediate School and can be found on TV anchoring the school’s news production. She has been helping Youth CONNEction and Center Stage Theater Inc. behind the scenes for the past three years. Kelsey has continued to demonstrate responsibility by assisting with various facets of production. She has previously volunteered several weekends of her time for stage crew for the productions of The King and I, Kismet, and Gypsy. Although most of Kelsey’s stage work is done while the lights are out, we made sure the spotlight shines on her.

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Joyce Saltes has been a regular volunteer with Valley United Way for the past four years, assisting with many aspects of the United Way mission. Joyce has continued to involve herself with the Youth Leadership Middle School Conference. She single handedly provides administrative support and collaborates with middle school teachers and guidance counselors to produce outcomes which helped create the foundation for the Middle School Volunteer council. Joyce assists with annual wine tasting events, newsletters, campaign data entry, in addition to various administrative tasks. She possesses a contagious smile that instantly warms a room.

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Sarah Timpko is graduating Derby High School as President of her 2008 class. Sarah is a Connecticut Academic Performance Test Scholar, Yale Book Award Recipient, and has maintained Highest Academic Achievement through grades 9-12. She came in 3^rd place in the Fred Reilly Oratorical Contest, in addition to receiving the Varsity Soccer Spirit Award and Academic Achievement through Athletics. Sarah has accrued over 800 hours of volunteer efforts around the community including Valley United Way where she facilitated the plans for the Middle School Youth Leadership Conference. She will be attending George Washington University in the fall.

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Valley United Way’s Youth Leadership Program was implemented to develop teens into future community leaders. 25 teens annually participate in a weekend leadership boot camp held at Camp Jewel in Colebrook, CT which marks the beginning of the program. Most notably these leaders developed, planned, and executed a day long leadership development conference for 100 middle school students. This group is commended for their level of sophistication in speaking to the crowd, dealing with small groups, maintain a constant state of attention from the middle school students throughout the day, and delivering a passion for volunteerism within our community.

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My Sister’s Place and My Sister’s Attic is a special thrift shop in Ansonia that donates all proceeds to support The Umbrella, Birmingham Group Health Services, Inc.’s domestic violence program. The store’s success is derived from its 21 volunteers, one of whom has dedicated over 25 years of service. The store offers quality new or gently used clothing, furniture, and household items to the general public at discount prices. These volunteers donate their time, talents, and resources as they provide the majority of manpower through a rotating schedule, each making unique contributions to the operation of the store which generates tens of thousands of dollars in revenue each moth to support The Umbrella Program.

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David Grant continues to emanate success through volunteerism. David was awarded the Gold Seal Award in 1996 and the Platinum Award form the Chamber of Commerce in 2007. He is a past president of both the Boys & Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley and the Derby-Shelton Rotary Club. He currently serves on the boards of the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Shelton Economic Development Corporation. David is also a founding board member of the Valley Community Foundation as well as their newsletter editor. He will be the 2008 Chair for Valley United Way's Annual Community Fund Raising Campaign.

Charles Sullivan is an active member of the Boys and Girls Club. He has also been one of the "chefs" at the Recreation Camp's annual fund raising lobster dinner for over 30 years. As one of the owners of  John J. Sullivan’s Restaurant, he has been an exceptionally good friend to the Valley's nonprofit community. He and Dave did a phenomenal job just recently in co-chairing TEAM, Inc.'s incredible "Men Who Cook" fundraiser which netted over $28,000 in revenue for TEAM.

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Prudential's employees have been active, "hands-on" members of the Corporate Volunteer Council for more than a decade. First as American Skandia and now as Prudential, they have put a personal touch on all of their volunteer activities. They have been especially strong with their holiday projects and have provided many, many Valley families with special holiday food baskets to brighten their days. They have also been exceptional in their involvement with the annual Back to School Clothes for Kids Project and have clothed dozens of Valley children to the start of a new school year.

Prudential employees have also been active participants in United Way's annual Week of Caring projects and have rolled up their sleeves to provide painting, landscaping and a variety of other services to the Valley nonprofit community. When it comes to hands-on involvement, Prudential employees do it better than anyone.

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Back to Volunteer Action Center             A Division of Valley United Way  

For more information on volunteer opportunities, please contact the Volunteer Action Center at 926-9478. The Center can also be reached by E-Mail by clicking here. 

Revised: May 22, 2008.
Copyright © 2008 by Valley United Way.
All trademarks or product names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.