Celebrate Berlin! Award Recipient Treasures Children, Animals
Lisa Kasprzyk To Be Honored March 24
For Lisa Kasprzyk, giving back to her community is second nature. She does so with an uncommon commitment to help others.
“I’ve always loved to volunteer and have always thought of myself as a giving person – I guess it’s just part of my personality,” Lisa says modestly.
Lisa’s giving nature has meant the world to the many lives she has touched over the years. And now, that nature is being rewarded. Lisa has been selected as the 2006 recipient of the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain’s Celebrate Berlin! community service award.
Lisa, a Hartford native and resident of Berlin for the past 18 years, has volunteered for the Manes & Motions Therapeutic Riding Center in Kensington for the past five years. A former volunteer coordinator for the program, Lisa works extensively with children and adults with cognitive and physical disabilities who gain therapeutic benefit from horseback riding. The program opens a whole new world for many of its participants, and Lisa’s dedication – along with that of her many fellow program volunteers – is a big part of its success.
“Lisa is a friend and mentor to all the riders she works with and is loved and respected by everyone associated with the program,” says Gail Ouellette, the program’s current volunteer coordinator and the person who nominated Lisa for the award. “It would be impossible for us to find a more devoted and loyal volunteer.”
Lisa will be honored next Friday, March 24, at the Berlin Chamber of Commerce Annual Awards Banquet. The event takes place beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Hawthorne Inn.
“The Selection Committee had a difficult task as we were presented with 10 outstanding, deserving nominees,” said Berlin Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kate Fuechsel, co-chair of the Selection Committee along with Mayor Adam Salina. “Lisa’s commitment to helping others and her track record of selflessly giving back to her community are outstanding.”
Other nominees, all Berlin residents with extensive histories of community service, included Pam Babrowski, Sandy Crowe, Don Dellaquila, Mary Farone, Donald Geschimsky, Kate Kearns, Ruth Penfield, Leonard Tubbs and Anne Yantz.
Also serving on the Selection Committee were Mary Jean Agostini of Realty 3, Carroll & Agostini Valley Properties in Kensington; Rosemary Conway Beaupre, a Kensington resident and member of the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain’s Board of Directors and Grants Committee; Peter Campanelli, president of Cambridge Specialty Co., Inc., in Kensington; Susan Ford, Curriculum Director, Berlin Public Schools; Bob Mayer, Managing Editor, The Berlin Citizen; James L. McNair, a Berlin resident and financial consultant with Smith Barney; Roger Perno, owner of Roger’s Marketplace IGA, Kensington; Ida Ragazzi, a well-known Berlin volunteer; and Len Zielinski, Chairman of Berlin’s Parks and Recreation Commission.
Lisa’s work with Manes & Motions is just the beginning of her commitment to community. She has volunteered for the Connecticut Race in the Park and the United Methodist Church food booth during the Berlin Fair (along with the Manes & Motions booth). She is affiliated with the Junior League of Greater New Britain, has organized a fundraiser for the homeless and helps with holiday meals with the Friendship Center in New Britain.
Lisa and her husband, Don, are the proud parents of two children, 21-year-old Jason and 18-year-old Jessica. While her children were of school age, Lisa could always be found volunteering in the classroom, the school store or at the Mother’s Day Fair. Lisa’s love of children and animals is at the heart of her devotion to Manes & Motions. “I love children and animals and being able to combine the two at Manes & Motions is just wonderful,” she says. “The rewards are plenty - just seeing the smiling faces of the children when they are riding is so gratifying.
“I’m very excited and surprised to receive this honor,” she continues. “Programs like Manes & Motions depend on volunteers; without them, there would be no program.”
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.
The Berlin Citizen is a co-sponsor of the Celebrate Berlin! Award.
As the recipient, Lisa earns the right to designate a $2,500 grant award from the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain to a Berlin charity or community service organization of her choice. That selection will be announced at the March 24 presentation.
For more information on the Foundation, please call (860) 229-6018.
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