United Way honors local heroes at for 4th Annual Hometown Heroes Gala
United Way of Western Connecticut (UWWC) honored locals as Hometown Heroes at its 4th Annual Hometown Heroes Benefit Dinner on Saturday, December 2 at the Amber Room Colonnade in Danbury.
New this year: Emerging Hero Awards which were awarded to area high school-aged youth who demonstrate strong leadership in volunteerism and community service. In addition, special awards were presented:
Corporate Philanthropy Award to Union Savings Bank for exemplifying corporate social responsibility and demonstrating a strong commitment to giving back to the community
Small Business Hero Award to Elmer Palma, Restauranteur, and Owner of Elmer’s Diner in recognition of his leadership, commitment, and generosity to the greater Danbury community.
Hometown Hero and Emerging Hero Awards were presented to the following individuals, nonprofit agencies and youth in appreciation and recognition of their service to towns within UWWC’s service area including:
HOMETOWN HEROES Bethel Mary Korin Bridgewater Wendy and Richard Jones Brookfield Julie Osborne Blick Danbury Celia Bacelar-Palmares, Emanuela Palmares, Angela Barbosa Tribuna Newspaper and The New American Dream Foundation
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New Fairfield Noah Alviti Newtown Dorrie Carolan Ridgefield Ridgefield Thrift Shop Volunteers
Roxbury Stuart Daly, Alice Daly, Cindy Winton-Bunting Little Britches Therapeutic Riding Sherman Ted Hollander Washington Mary Anne Greene |
EMERGING HEROES Bethel Alexandra Schulman (Bethel High School) Brookfield Ahjeetha Shankar (High School) Danbury Kendra Dascano (Immaculate High School) New Fairfield Jeremy Perillo (New Fairfield High School) |
Newtown Gabriel Locke (Henry Abbott Technical High School) New Milford Rajinder Kandhari (New Milford High School) Redding Lucia Gorman (Joel Barlow High School) Ridgefield Zoe Butchen (Ridgefield High School) Sherman Avery Putnam (New Fairfield High School)
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“Our Hometown Hero and our Emerging Hero awardees have all made deep and unique contributions to the fabric of their local communities,” said Kimberly Morgan, CEO of United Way of Western Connecticut. “It is such a pleasure to be able to shine a light on their accomplishments and service.” Nominees were selected based on several criteria, including achievement, action, commitment, impact, and initiative.