Celebrate Berlin! Honoree Designates Grant Award to Junior Woman’s Club of Berlin
$2,500 Grant Will Boost Program’s Work in the Community
(April 2, 2007) The Junior Woman’s Club of Berlin, a volunteer organization dedicated to community service and to promoting common interests in education, philanthropy, public 
health, civic and fine arts, has been designated the recipient of a $2,500 grant from the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain by Helen deRito, this year’s Celebrate Berlin! community service award recipient.
deRito was honored Friday evening before a record gathering of nearly 200 attendees at the Berlin Chamber of Commerce’s 54th Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet at the Hawthorne Inn.
deRito, who serves as treasurer of the Club, was nominated for the award by Karen Pagliaro of the Visiting Nurse Association of Central Connecticut, Inc., and the Junior Woman’s Club. “Our Club and our community are enriched because of Helen’s deeds,” said Pagliaro in her nomination. “Helen deRito’s joyous spirit of volunteerism is one that should be celebrated.”
Presenting the award Friday evening was Jim Williamson, president of the Community Foundation who served as the event’s keynote speaker. “Volunteers are the unsung heroes of our towns. The Community Foundation created the Celebrate awards so once, every year, we can take time out to thank and recognize these special people,” said Williamson. “Choosing a recipient is never easy, but in Helen deRito, we have an outstanding honoree.
“If there is an opportunity in Berlin to help our children, or make a lasting impact on the community, Helen deRito is there.”
“I’m shocked to receive this award,” said Helen, who indicated that the funds will likely assist the Junior Woman’s Club in its development of a to-be-determined major community project. “I don’t think I do anything that’s special. There are a lot of people who do a lot of great things in our town. It’s very nice – I am honored.”
A New Britain native, deRito is heavily involved with the Junior Woman’s Club’s CHAD program, which provides child identification stickers to families for child car seats in the event of an auto accident. She is also president of the Hubbard School PTO and a Cub Scout and Boy Scout volunteer. In addition to her PTO work, she volunteers at her children’s schools and leads a 5th grade reading group at Hubbard School as part of the Junior Great Books program.
Other nominees for this year’s Celebrate Berlin! award, all Berlin residents with extensive histories of community service, included Susan Brochu, Don Dellaquila, Deborah Muzio and John Tedesco.
The Celebrate Berlin! Award is part of the Foundation’s four-town Celebrate Our Communities! community service awards program in Berlin, New Britain, Plainville and Southington. The Celebrate Awards have four objectives: To raise awareness of the importance of volunteerism and community service; to offer recognition to deserving volunteers who have made a difference in their communities; to provide financial support to local charities; and to raise awareness of the important work that the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain does in its four service communities.
Established in 1941, the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain connects donors who care with causes that matter in Berlin, New Britain, Plainville and Southington. It does this by raising resources and developing partnerships that make a measurable improvement in the quality of life in each of these communities. For more information on the Foundation, please call (860) 229-6018 or visit www.cfgnb.org.
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