Monday Musings

Last week's Back to School Clothes for Kids project and the food drive hosted by R.S. Scinto and Prudential Annuities made for an extremely busy and productive week. I capped the week on the weekend by running in two road races in Shelton - the Wesley Heights 5K Road Race and the Sunset Run for the Warriors 10K.

Now I'm sitting here looking at the weeks ahead and the official beginning of our Community Campaign on September 22. There are several things between now and then starting with a reminder of a way to save money and benefit United Way at the same time.

Several weeks ago, I wrote about program that we are doing with Shelton based DiscountPower and the state's program that allows people to select their electrical power supplier. I'm happy to say that we have almost 30 people who have already signed up to lower their bill and help make a small donation to United Way at the same time. I also switched and my bill already shows DiscountPower as my new supplier. As I mentioned previously, I've been saving $20-$30 a month for a while now, and DiscountPower's rates were lower than what I was already paying. On top of that, tomorrow Dr. EnergySaver is coming to my house to do a full energy audit that comes free if you switch to Discount Power.They have already sent me some informative materials to prepare, and I am looking forward to their visit.

It also dawned on me this morning as I was contemplating my weekend running that Nick Tarasovic is approaching the end of his Tri-Challenge. In less than two weeks, he will be attempting to swim 2.4 miles, ride a bike for 112 miles and run 26.2 more miles - all in one day - and I thought running two races in a weekend was tough!!

On September 14, we have the thank you reception of members of the Commodore Hull Society. We had hoped to be able to show an oil portrait of the Commodore that dates back to the early 1800's - even before his famous victory over the British on Old Ironsides. Unfortunately, something has come up, and the portrait will not be available, but we will tell the story and more importantly take the time to thank our largest donors for their support.

Week of Caring is going to involve the renovation of Umbrella's shelter for victims of domestic violence, and companies are already lining up to participate. This is the third time down through the years that we have done the shelter, and it's always a rewarding experience for everyone involved. That will be held the week of September 20-24.

And finally, it's time to make your reservation for the Kickoff on September 22 at the new Derby Middle School. Invitations are now in the mail, but the quickest and easiest way to make your reservation is to simply do it on-line. Click here to go directly to the page.

There's a lot going on in addition to everything mentioned already, but it's also time to pause and wish everyone a Happy Labor Day.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Busy day with food and clothes

Every day seems to be getting busier as we head to the unofficial end of summer - the beginning of the new school year. That seems to be especially true this week as we have just completed presentations for our United Way campaign with teachers in Shelton and Seymour and will be doing the Derby teacher's Friday morning. Today, we are also visiting with schools, but this will be an event for students and parents - our annual Back to School Clothes for Kids Project!

This is an absolutely amazing effort that our Corporate Volunteer Council began as schools closed for the summer back in June. On our rotating basis, Ansonia was chosen for this year's project and we were given profiles of needy students with information not only on their clothes sizes, but also about their favorite colors, sports, music, etc. For the last couple of months our CVC partners have been shopping for their kids, and today it all comes together with a reception for the kids where they will be getting their new outfits along with a heavy dose of encouragement for a great new school year. As a former teacher myself, I appreciate just how important the first couple of weeks are to student success. Our Back to School project helps to make sure kids attend school and are in the right frame of mind to learn. Please visit our website later today for pictures, stories and video from today's event.

Also on tap today is the second week of the Towers Food Drive sponsored by R.D. Scinto and Prudential Annuities in the "Circle" at the Corporate Drive complex. It's a tough time of year for the food banks, and this drive will really help the Spooner House replenish their dwindling supplies. There's a short video on our website.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Early Commodore Hull Picture Emerges

Commodore Isaac Hull

Last week I mentioned a "New" old portrait of one of America's greatest naval heroes, Commodore Issac Hull, for whom our leadership giving society is named. As you can see from the picture above, the portrait looks fantastic even though it predates Hull's great victory over the British during the War of 1812. For more details about the portrait and its owner, Cindy Cross, click here.

What has me excited about this is the timing. We will be hosting a thank you reception for our Commodore Hull Society members on September 14, which is a very special occasion for us to thank our donors. It is now even more special because Cindy Cross has agreed to bring the portrait to the reception for everyone to see. As we inch closer and closer to the 200th anniversary of Commodore Hull's greatest triumph, it is especially fitting to be able to have a formal viewing of this visual reminder of the Commodore's great contributions to U.S. naval history. I hope that as many members of the Commodore Hull Society as possible will be able to join us for this historic evening.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Commodore Isaac Hull Society reception set

It's a very busy time of year at United Way as we prepare for the upcoming campaign and our Corporate Volunteer Council is working on the Back to School Clothes for Kids Reception next week and the Week of Caring project next month. But today I want to pause and offer a special thanks to the members of our Commodore Isaac Hull Society who represent the largest givers to Valley United Way.

When we established our leadership giving group many years ago, we wanted a name that would signify the importance of the Society to the entire community. After doing some research, Vincent Palacino, who was our Director of Resource Development, suggested naming it after Commodore Hull Vince was not from the Valley, but his research had left him with the strong impression that not only was Commodore Hull one of the greatest naval heroes in U.S. history, but he also was born in Derby and grew up in both Derby and what is now the City of Shelton. If you don't know about Commodore Hull's role in U.S. history, perhaps you know the story of "Old Ironsides", the U.S.S. Constitution, which is still on public display to this day in Boston, and is the oldest commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy. Hull was in charge of Old Ironsides on that fateful day when it defeated the British ship Guerriere in a stunning victory for the young U.S. Navy during the War of 1812. The victory brought credibility to the U.S. Navy and great honor to the entire country. You can learn more about Commodore Hull here.

Commodore Hull was indeed a great hero for the entire country, and we are proud to have our leadership givers associated with such an outstanding figure in Valley history. Our donors make a little bit of history of their own through their involvement with the Commodore Hull Society. Their donations make a major difference in the quality of life in our community as they support so many worthy programs and organizations funded through the United Way campaign. They are also role models for all those who want to be involved in the community in a leadership role. For the first time in years, we are going to pause and thank them directly with a small "thank you" reception. Hopefully, many will be able to attend, but I wanted to take this time to let them know how much their support is appreciated.

As a small footnote to the story of Commodore Hull, I think many people know that I am also involved with a great road race that is held every Thanksgiving along the streets of Shelton and Derby. The Commodore Hull Thanksgiving Day 5K Road Race has been celebrating the achievements since 2002, and will have its ninth race this Thanksgiving. I was recently contacted by a woman who stumbled upon the race website and was thrilled to see his name and story celebrated through the race. What was really interesting is that she told me that she has an oil portrait of Hull done around 1800. It has been in her family for generations. This Saturday, she is bringing the portrait to the Derby Historical Society. I am looking forward to a glimpse of this early portrait of one of the Valley and the country's greatest naval heroes.



For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at http://www.valleyunitedway.org/.

Save Money - Support United Way at the Same Time!

We have added a tremendous new service to the United Way website that I would strongly urge everyone to use immediately! Many people are either not aware of Connecticut's efforts to allow people to select the generator for their electricity - and save a great deal of money at the same time - but we are now making it easier on both accounts! At United Way, we are very supportive of efforts to support Family Financial Stability, and saving on your electric bill is a quick and easy way to do so!

We recently reached an agreement with DiscountPower, Inc., a new Shelton based company, to help facilitate consumer use of their service - and to support Valley United Way at the same time. If you visit our website, you will find all the information and a link to a page where you can enroll and begin to save money by switching your supplier to DiscountPower. You'll save quite a bit depending on your actual usage. The more you use, the more you save.

I am tremendously excited about this new program because of my own experiences. Like many others, when the state first announced that you could switch your provider, I procrastinated figuring that it wasn't worth the effort and that it would be too difficult and confusing. After a couple of months, I finally sat down at the computer and decided that I should at least learn more. Within a matter of minutes I found all the information that I needed and realized that I needed to sign up immediately. I quickly located my electric bill and very rapidly enrolled. The process could not have been simpler, and within two months, my bill reflected the new energy supplier on the generation part of the bill along with the new, lower rate that I was paying. In my case, it has ranged from a low of $20 a month to a high of just over $30, though I expect that my next bill is going to be much higher because of the recent heat!

That made it very easy for me to support this new program when we had the opportunity, and I have already switched over. What does it mean for United Way? Actually, it's not a lot - at least in any one installment. Based on my previous use, United Way will get about $1.50 - $3 a month, but they will get something every month as long as I continue to use DirectPower. That $2 - $3 comes as a donation from DirectPower, not out of the savings that I am getting from switching providers. It's a win-win situation all the way around.

On top of the discount, I also signed up for the free home energy audit, and later this month I will be having that done. I'll write about that later, but I was pleased to know that another local business, Dr. EnergySaver will be doing the audit.



For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.