Community partners lauded for support

MIDDLETOWN — A couple of weeks ago, we told you about our upcoming Campaign Awards Breakfast and announced this year’s highest honor, our Corporate Spirit award, being presented to Comcast. Today, I would like to take the opportunity to announce a few more exciting award recipients.

Some of the top awards will be given to Julisa Velasquez and Bob Millerd from Pratt and Whitney, and Paul Turenne from Wesleyan University, who will be honored as Coordinators of the Year. Chandler Howard from Liberty Bank will receive this year’s Leadership Award. Middlesex Hospital and East Hampton Schools will both be honored with the Funding Partner Achievement Award. Guilmartin, DiPiro & Sokolowski will be honored with the Small Business Community Partnership Award. Eli Cannon’s will receive the Social Media Shout Out Award, and MiddleOak will receive the Special Achievement Award.

Julisa and Bob from Pratt and Whitney — with the support of their campaign team — managed to grow an already incredible campaign by 15 percent. This year, Julisa and Bob worked hard to grow the company’s special events, including their two golf tournaments, and to communicate Middlesex United Ways message to many small groups of Pratt employees.

They coordinated employee volunteers and United Way staff to visit and present, ensuring everyone heard about the work United Way is doing and how they can help. Special events at Pratt include a highly successful golf tournaments, annual gourmet hot dog day, and car show, giving all employees a way to get involved and have fun.

Paul Turenne from Wesleyan University will also be receiving a Coordinator of the Year award. This year, Wesleyan University’s employee’s campaign raised over $123,230 in comparison to their past five-year average of $114,000 with an addition of 41 new donors. Paul brought enthusiasm, creativity, and dedication to the campaign.

Over at Liberty Bank, CEO Chandler Howard will be honored with the Leadership Award for his role in promoting philanthropic leadership during the United Way campaign. Chandler is champion of Middlesex United Way at Liberty Bank, ensuring each year Liberty runs a fantastic campaign. Chandler encourages employees to give back to local nonprofits, including Middlesex United Way, and to spend time volunteering.

Each June, Liberty Bank holds its monthlong Liberty Lends a Hand campaign where employees have the opportunity to sign up to volunteer for a nonprofit project in the bank’s footprint, and/or donate to a branch collection benefiting a nonprofit.

This year’s Funding Partner Achievement Award will go to two deserving partners, Middlesex Hospital and East Hampton Public Schools. This award recognizes nonprofit Funding Partners of Middlesex United Way that have achieved noteworthy results in employee giving and special events. This year, the Middlesex Hospital employee campaign raised $99,395.47, an increase of 13 percent from its last campaign. We are truly grateful for the incredible goals the hospital set and reached this campaign season, and for all they do to support our community.

We are excited to recognize the work of East Hampton Public Schools. This year their campaign raised over $3,000 more than their previous campaign, with a 53 percent increase in the number of donors. From the help of Superintendent Paul K. Smith and campaign coordinator Linda Collins, East Hampton Public Schools surpassed last year’s fundraising total in the first week of its campaign.

This year’s Small Business Community Partnership award will go to Guilmartin, DiPiro & Sokolowski. This award recognizes a small business which has achieved noteworthy results in employee giving, special events and/or corporate support and has maintained a strong United Way culture. Guilmartin, DiPiro & Sokolowski have been giving to Middlesex United Way for the past decade and had an average gift of over $200 per employee this year.

MiddleOak will receive this year’s Special Achievement Award, which recognizes a company that has achieved distinguished results in corporate support. With a corporate gift of $14,500, MiddleOak has remained a consistent partner to Middlesex United. MiddleOak also gives through our Corporate Sponsorship program as a silver level sponsor.

Our final award, the Social Media Shout Out Award, will be presented to Eli Cannon’s Tap Room. In today’s digital age, it is important that we recognize companies and organizations that use their social media platforms to increase awareness of the work Middlesex United Way does. We are thankful to receive acknowledgement from Eli Cannon’s through Twitter and Facebook.

All of these awards and many more will be given out May 8 at our annual Campaign Awards Breakfast. It is always a fun morning, and we hope you’ll join us. Register at middlesexunitedway.org/ RSVP.