Boys & Girls Club Honors Valley Trio

(Left to right) Christopher Douglas, President of ENCON Heating & AC; Frederick W. Serra; and Michael "Neech" Cannici

SHELTON – The Boys & Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley held its annual Service to Youth Awards Dinner on June 9, where its three top awards were presented.

Frederick W. Serra was presented with the Raymond P. Lavietes Service to Youth award, ENCON Heating & AC was presented with the Champion of Youth award, and Michael Neech” Cannici was presented with the Alumni Hall of Fame award.

We’re tremendously fortunate to honor distinguished leaders like Fred Serra, ENCON, and Mike Cannici. Their commitment to our Club is greatly appreciated, and they may never know just how many lives they’re giving changes.”

The Raymond P. Lavietes Service to Youth Award is the highest honor the Club can present to an individual, named after beloved Club friend and supporter, Ray Lavietes, who helped make our Boys & Girls Club a frontrunner in the provision of services to youth through his dedication and commitment. This award honors an individual or individuals worthy of recognition due to their involvement in serving the youth of our community.

Frederick W. Serra gives credit to others before taking any credit himself, and this may very well be the secret to his success. Throughout his 37-year career, he used the knowledge he gained to help others, whether it was guiding them to the right insurance mix for their needs, providing his employees what they needed to thrive, or sharing his expertise with his chosen nonprofit organizations. Committed to the idea that business has a responsibility to give back, Serra not only volunteers with area nonprofits, eh also gives his employees time from work to participate in their own volunteer opportunities. Kindness, respect, and humility are the hallmarks of any interactions with Serra, and the reason why he is viewed with such respect across a range of industries. 

Professionally, his career began at John Hancock Financial Services — Life Insurance Sales in 1985. Before launching his own business in 1997, eh grew his experience at Travelers Insurance Company and the Fitzpatrick Agency, Inc. When he launched FW Serra Inc., he was finally based in his hometown, serving his own community. In 2008, Serra expanded his operation and brought in a partner to build the Property and Casualty Insurance division; the company then became Serra & DelVecchio Insurance. After nearly 20 years, Serra took the company he had grown fro a local organization offering solutions for midsized businesses and individuals to a merger with NFP, one of the fastest-growing US large-group employee benefits brokers in the country. A few years later Sera retired, and decided retirement wasn’t for him. His motto — the brain needs to keep busy to keep young. He launched The Entrepreneur LLC, providing fiscal, strategic, and operational leadership in uniquely challenging situations. 

Serra’s professional accreditations include a degree in Management & Industrial Relations from the University of Bridgeport; Life Underwriting Training Council Certification; Life, Health Property, and Casualty Licensing in all 50 states; Past Designation: Series 6 & 7; and the Harvard Negotiation Mastery Certificate. 

Serra doesn’t make distinctions between his day job” and his volunteer efforts: he gives it all he’s got, sharing the full breadth of his professional expertise wherever he goes. His heart has guided him to be part of our Boys & Girls Club as well as the United Methodist Homes in Shelton and the University of Bridgeport’s Board of Trustees. In addition, he’s served as the Past Chairman of the Connecticut Benefit Brokers/National Association of Health Underwriters, is a Rotarian with the Derby-Shelton Rotary Club, and sat on the CBIA producer Advisory Board, United Healthcare Advisory Board, ConnectiCare Advisory Board, and Anthem Advisory Board.

Serra considers being a Club kid” a notable accomplishment in his life, right up there with starting his own company, employing 51 full-time employees, acquiring 22 insurance agencies, establishing the InsurChoice Trade Mark, and receiving the Valley Chamber of Commerce Gold Seal Award in 2015. 

Introduced to our Boys & Girls Club by his wife, Lisa, who was a member of our Board of Directors, Serra joined our organization as a Corporator in 2007. My life was inspired by my wife,” he says of his decision. The inspiration led him to join the Board in 2013, and he served as Board President from 2018 – 2020. In 2015 he took the reins of our annual appeal, Back-a-Kid, from fellow director, Karen Bentlage. Coming off the heels of one of our most successful campaigns ever, he put to work for our Club his business expertise, and wrapped up with a second record-breaking campaign. 

An exemplary leader in both business and the community, Serra is admired just as much at home, where he and Lisa enjoy their blended family of six children and four grandchildren. Fred is someone we all look up to,” Lisa says, he always has the best advice and never leads us in the wrong direction.” It is with deep gratitude that we can say the same thing about his leadership of our Club.

The Champion of Youth Award is the highest honor our Boys & Girls Club can award a company/organization. It is presented to those worthy of recognition due to their involvement in serving the youth of our community. This honor is presented for outstanding leadership and untiring dedication to youth activities, distinguished record in volunteer service with an emphasis on youth, and exceptional support of our Boys & Girls Club.

ENCON Heating & AC has been a supporter of our Boys & Girls Club for many years, starting with our Alumni & Friends Association. A former Club kid” himself, ENCON President Christopher Douglas knew what the Club was all about and wanted to give back to the organization that had helped him as a youth. 

ENCON deeply believes in supporting its community, focusing on causes and charities that make our community and world a better place. In addition to our Boys & Girls Club, they support the Wakeman Boys & Girls Club and Boys & Girls Club of Stamford, as well as the CMAK Foundation, Greenwich Hospital Foundation, March of Dimes, Ronald McDonald House, Run Walk PCRC, Stamford Hospital Foundation, BH Cares and Sterling House Stratford.

ENCON provides engineering, installation, and maintenance of HVAC systems for both commercial and residential customers and has been in operation since 1969. Their high standards of excellence stem from the company’s leadership, and our Club is indebted to ENCON for sharing its dynamic President with us for so many years. 

Douglas started supporting the Club through the Alumni Association in 2014, sponsoring fundraisers, offering suggestions, and stepping in whenever help was needed. He joined the Board of Directors in 2017, and immediately got to work, offering his business acumen in any place it was needed. 

Douglas is currently serving as the Chairman of our Governance Committee as well as our 1st Vice President, and he will succeed to the presidency in its next term. He has unstintingly shared his expertise to help shape our strategic plan, including both a long-sighted vision of the future and the action steps needed to execute the plan in our day-to-day operations.

In addition to sharing its time and talent with us in the form of Chris Douglas, the company has also shared its treasure. Nearly a decade ago the company started supporting our Alumni & Friends Association Golf Tournament; the proceeds from this tournament pay for extras for our Club members, such as new computers, scholarships, and field trips. The company has also sponsored the entire range of Club fundraisers, including the John Red” Larsen Golf Classic, Commodore Hull Thanksgiving Day 5k Road Race, and Night at the Club.

When our old hot water heater needed to be replaced, ENCON removed the old one, purchased the new one, and paid for installation. For the holidays, Douglas made a donation to our Club in the name of each of his customers, enough to allow more than 15 boys and girls to attend our Club every day after school to receive tutoring and participate in our full array of programming — kids who otherwise would not have been able to attend. Last year ENCON invited our teenagers to tour their facility as part of our Workforce Development program, and ENCON employees talked to the teens about their experience in the industry and how there are many different paths to a successful future. It brought to life new opportunities for our youth beyond high school. 

ENCON has wrapped its arms around our Boys & Girls Club, from event sponsorships to special assistance, and in the past few years has elevated its support to that of the highest level, that of Mission Sponsor. These select organizations and individuals are a true champion of the Club, giving at a level that provides sustained support for our mission to enable all children, especially those who need us most, to be productive, caring, responsible citizens. ENCON truly leads by example, and has a passion for making our community a better place. 

The Alumni Hall of Fame Award recognizes former members and staff for their contributions to society, outstanding leadership, dedication to children, and service to the community and Boys & Girls Clubs. 

Lifelong athlete and Derby native Michael Neech” Cannici grew up playing sports, including leagues at our Boys & Girls Club. He joined our staff in 1995, after graduating from Derby High School. He then continued his education at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting, earning his certificate in TV and radio broadcasting in 1997. His love of his hometown, sports, kids, and broadcasting have shaped his life, and for the past 27 years, he’s skillfully woven them together. Between his career at our Boys & Girls Club, his work with the Derby High School Athletic Hall of Fame, his Hometown Heroes program, and the Valley Sports Rewind, you’ll not meet a more hard working, humble, honest, and caring individual. 

Cannici started his work with us at our Clubhouse in Shelton, and in 2015 he took over our before and after school programs held at Elizabeth Shelton School. Over the years he coached both our boys and girls sports leagues before COVID shut things down. When asked what’s kept him here for so long, he says people don’t realize how rewarding the work can be. 

Honestly, the kids bring out the best in me. And when you have a kid ask you to their basketball or soccer game or dance recital, you know you’re making some kind of difference in their life. There’s no better feeling.” 

Cannici has had such an effect on our kids that in 2016, our Games Room Champion Award, presented at our annual Awards Night, was renamed the Mike Neech” Cannici Games Room Champion Award. He has also led our Torch Club, a youth leadership club for 10 – 14 year olds, for ten years, and in 2017 he received Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Northeast Region Torch Club Advisor of the Year award — earning the accolade over dozens of other Torch Club advisors throughout the Northeast Region. His kids can tell you why — every Club member that he cares for benefits from his leadership. He guides them, instills confidence, and keeps them smiling with his humor. He’s there when they need a friend or mentor, and he’s there to celebrate their successes and accomplishments.

Cannici has an amazing memory and can recall stats and athletic accomplishments across cities, years, and sports. In 2015 he started the Hometown Heroes series on cable TV, a Valley-centric sports talk show that airs on Comcast channel 10. During the past seven years, Mike has interviewed outstanding players and coaches from all the Valley towns, including such legends as Dan Lauria (The Wonder Years), Rick Cerrone (New York Yankees, Baseball Digest), and Don Most (Happy Days), as well as Maria Conlon (UCONN Huskies) and Chris Mad Dog” Russo (Sirius XM Radio). He also hosts the Valley Sports Rewind podcast on the Valley Independent Sentinel’s streaming channel. 

Also in 2015 he came together with a dedicated group of volunteers to create the Derby High School Athletic Hall of Fame to increase awareness of the rich and storied history of Derby High School athletes and the outstanding players, coaches, and other relevant personnel who have represented the school and community with pride and dignity over the years. 

In 2019 the Derby-Shelton Rotary Club presented Cannici with its prestigious Paul Harris Fellow Award for his work with the Athletic Hall of Fame and Hometown Heroes. The award recognizes individuals who have made or had made in their name substantial contributions to The Rotary Foundation. Other notable Fellows include U.S. astronaut James Lovell, Mother Teresa, entertainer Pearl Bailey, and polio vaccine developer Jonas Salk. There are more than one million Paul Harris Fellows worldwide. 

Bringing things full circle, for the past two years, Cannici has been publishing Club kid spotlights on Facebook, putting on a pedestal the kids he’s had in his programs over the years, shouting out their accomplishments. It began as a way to bring a little happiness to a world locked down by the pandemic, and swelled to a testament of a man who wants nothing more than to lift others up. Whether it’s these Club kid spotlights, his Comcast series, the Athletic Hall of Fame, or his Valley Sports Rewind, Cannici is all about singing out for the unsung hero. In the best of poetic twists, he is actually the unsung hero, and the Boys & Girls Club, the kids, and the entire Valley are all the better for having Mike Cannici in our lives. 

For more information about the Boys & Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley visit us at www.BGC-LNV.org

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