Valley United Way has selected 32 students from nine area high schools to participate in the 22nd year of its Youth Leadership Program.
This program strives to develop teens into future community leaders by educating them on the areas of need in the Valley, the importance of nonprofit agencies and the role volunteerism plays in addressing those needs. Applications are accepted annually from students either attending Valley high schools or those who reside in the Valley but attend schools outside the immediate area.
The students will be attending a weekend team-building retreat at Camp Jewell, a YMCA outdoor center in Colebrook, CT as their first formal activity. This retreat is an experience designed to bring the group together as a team for the first time. They are given a dynamic hands-on learning experience that emphasizes development in trust, leadership, confidence and communication. Throughout the year, Youth Leaders will receive additional training from corporate community members, which includes workshops in diversity, problem solving and decision making, interview skills and public speaking. Youth Leaders also participate in various community service activities throughout the duration of the program.
Youth Leaders conduct a needs assessment survey later in the year to evaluate programs and services aimed specifically at assisting youth. Once the results are compiled and the needs identified, requests for proposals are sent to all nonprofits in the community. Youth Leadership members evaluate the proposals and distribute funding as part of their formal allocation process at the end of the year. Youth Leaders have allocated more than $50,000 since 1990.
2011 Youth Leaders
Caitlin Baker – Sacred Heart
Alexander Barnard – Holy Cross
Ashley Benoit – Ansonia
Hudson Boles – Shelton
Christine Buswell – Oxford
Talia Cirillo – Derby
Christina Cretella – Seymour
Jessica DeFelice – Shelton
Cristina Disorbo – Sacred Heart
Elia D’Onofrio – Derby
Lisette Garcia – Derby
Tim Garrity – Derby
Billy Holt – Derby
Samantha Kalafut – Derby
Sukhmeet Kohli – Seymour
Jake Komar – Notre Dame, West Haven
Jake Lapinsky – Seymour
Abigail Lynch – Seymour
Caitlin Malloy – Sacred Heart
Shane Mangado – Derby
Brienne Marks – Shelton
Jennifer Mezzquelle – Notre Dame, Fairfield
Daniell Mott – Oxford
Louis Nicoletti – Ansonia
Meghan Poole – Shelton
Travis Pyka – Oxford
Kevin Saksa – Seymour
Emma Bee Schwarz – Oxford
Kelsey Sullivan – Shelton
Stephanie Sweeney – Emmett O’Brien
Aleksandra Szczesna – Shelton
Zach Volo – Derby
Valley United Way is the leading philanthropic resource for the Valley towns of Ansonia, Derby, Oxford, Seymour and Shelton matching the needs of the community and the interests of donors to improve the quality of life in the community. United Way supports and creates initiatives addressing youth, families and people in crisis. Each year Valley United Way funds programs and organizations that make a measurable difference in the lives of people living and working in the Valley.
