Local Heroes

The United Way of Greater Waterbury held its twentieth annual Campaign Awards Dinner on March 30 at Villa Rosa in Waterbury. Approximately 280 individuals attended the event, which formally recognized the support and efforts of community volunteers and businesses during the 2005-06 ‘Mission Impossible’ theme campaign.

Campaign Chairman John Tobin (president, Waterbury Hospital) thanked the volunteers and donors from the ten-town area. He also made special note of the challenges the campaign faced in light of Hurricane Katrina and the need to continue educating the public on the value of the Community Care Fund in light of national trends toward donor designation.

The campaign was successful in achieving he $3,500,000 goal set in September. $2,400,000 was raised for local relief. This money will be used to fund local health and human service agencies and United Way operating and community building activities for the coming fiscal year.

The following awards were presented:
Organized Labor/United Way Community Service Award - Steve Schrag. Mr. Schrag was recognized for his extensive volunteer activities. Mr. Schrag worked with parents and neighbors to prevent the closing of the Washington School in the South End of Waterbury. He worked to help bring a pilot environmental remediation training program to Naugatuck Valley Community College to help unemployed workers find a new career; he has helped with food drives, conducted child labor history workshops in area high schools, facilitated health and safety workshops for the United Labor Agency and helped to establish the Cummings Community Service Scholarship for high school students active in the community.

Community Volunteer of the Year - Jonathan Kellogg. As a volunteer in Waterbury, Mr. Kellogg is the president of the Greater Waterbury Campership Fund, which raises money to send under-unprivileged children to summer camp. Since is inception in the 1970s, the fund has raised more than $2million and sent nearly 4,000 children to camps across Connecticut. His other volunteer activities in Waterbury include serving as a director for the Greater Waterbury YMCA and on the board of managers of The Waterbury Club.

Frederic and Lucy Kellogg Award: William Morris. Mr. Morris was appointed to the Saint Mary’s Hospital Board of Directors in 2000. Currently he serves as chairman of the Audit Committee and as a director on the Executive Compensation, Finance, Strategic Planning, Investment and Pension and Building and Grounds committees. Mr. Morris previously served for three years as president of the Greater Waterbury YMCA. He is currently chairman of the board of directors of the Waterbury Development Corporation and a member of the board of directors of the Country Club of Waterbury. He is past United Way Board and Campaign Cabinet member and a current leadership donor who runs a best practices campaign.

Spirit of Excellence Award:Illinois Tool Works, Inc. Illinois Tool Works employees have demonstrated a spirit of generosity, teamwork and enthusiasm in their loyal support of the United Way of Greater Waterbury and the Greater Waterbury Community. A dedicated employee campaign resulted in a 75% employee participation rate showing an impressive a 23% increase in overall employee giving when compared to the previous year. The average gift was $132.75 with a per capita gift of $10.60

The event closed with John Tobin handing his title to incoming 2006-07 campaign chair, Fred Luedke, President Neoperl, Inc.

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