Ask Valley caterer David M. Grant what kind of food people in the Valley go for, and he is quick with an answer.
“The Valley likes reasonably priced, hearty food,” he said Sunday afternoon at the Valley Arts Council’s juried art show, conducted at the offices of the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce.
But Grant knows something else about the Valley too: that people dig into their pockets and give in a spirit of generosity.
He’s done it himself, and that’s why the Valley Philanthropy Council gave Grant the Distinguished Leader of the Year Award Sunday, at the conclusion of the annual art show.
Grant accepted his award, a bronze-hued decorative piece, against a backdrop of paintings, watercolors, photographs and sculptures made by visual artists in the Valley.
Grant admitted he can’t paint or draw even a simple stick figure, but he appreciates the work artists do and he has shown his support in the community with his services and with donations, as well as his time raising funds.
“Yeah, I like to give back to the community,” Grant said in an interview before the event. He said he has done a lot at the Lower Naugatuck Valley Boys and Girls Club, in particular. “It’s a hobby of mine.”
David M. Grant Caterers has been in business 36 years. It is based in Shelton, and most of the cooking these days is done by Grant’s son, David, and a crew.
At 56, David M. Grant admits to being semi-retired. He joked that the only cooking he really does these days is on the grill at home.
But he’s active in the community, with charitable works and fundraising, and for that he has been selected to be the first recipient of the new award, said Arlene Greco, chairwoman of the Valley Philanthropy Council.
She also announced he will receive the Connecticut chapter of The Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Award for Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser.
Training, Education and Manpower Inc. has also recognized him. He has been an inspiration to successful fundraising efforts in the Lower Naugatuck Valley, she said.
“We’re giving this award to someone who exemplifies charitable giving,” Greco said.
The theme of the art show itself was “The Art of Giving.” The artists and photographers sold their works, and donated 30 percent of the proceeds.
Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, who helped introduce Grant at the event, told the audience of more than 100 people the art of giving comes in many forms, with an important result.
“Giving has a tremendous impact on society,” Lauretti said.
The show came on a warm, sunny late mid-Autumn day when a lot of people could have been outside enjoying the weather. But they chose to attend the art show, and that says a lot about the Valley, said Jamie Cohen, president of the Valley Community Foundation.
Cohen also helped to introduce Grant.
“We’ve got about 150 people walking through here on what must be a 70 degree day,” Cohen said, pleased.
The Valley Community Foundation is one of the non-profit organizations whose development and organizational staff are represented by the Valley Philanthropy Council.
Others include the Birmingham Group Health Services Inc.; Boy Scouts of America, Housatonic Council; Boys and Girls Clubs of the LNV; Griffin Hospital; LNV Parent Child Resource Center; TEAM; United Methodist Homes; Valley United Way; Valley YMCA; and Visiting Nurse Association of South Central Connecticut. Members of those groups attended the event Sunday.
But it was the artists who owned the day.
“I would say the spirit of the Valley is community,” said illustration artist Thomas Greco of Waterbury, who won a prize for his depiction of red and green apples at a farmstand. From the corporate towers of Shelton to the back woods of Oxford, “everybody knows each other here,” Greco said.
