Corporate Neighbors ‘Caring’ About Newtown

By John Voket

Thanks to about two dozen corporate neighbors from Newtown Savings Bank and Boehringer Ingelheim, Newtown’s children will have a cleaner, safer playground on which to romp, and an interactive educational trail to follow at another local park.

And residents of an Ability Beyond Disability group home will enjoy the bright inviting atmosphere a new coat of paint can bring as a result of the creative folks from Trident.

On Wednesday, June 8h, 600 volunteers from 28 local businesses and corporations fanned out across the region taking part United Way of Western Connecticut’s Annual Days of Caring. Close to 50 different projects were undertaken, ultimately benefiting 40 human services agencies or public entities within the 14-town area of Northern Fairfield and Southern Litchfield Counties.

By making a corporate donation of human resources to complete these annual projects, including three in Newtown, local nonprofits can reallocate their limited resources to mission-driven activities. According to the Danbury-based United Way, the value of time and donations made in just one day this June exceeded $150,000.

At Treadwell Park, almost a dozen Newtown Savings Bank employees from across the region laid down several truckloads of new, clean mulch in and around the playground. And while this year’s Day of Caring fell on one of the hottest days of the year so far, everyone stayed well hydrated and in relatively good spirits.

Another highlight in Newtown was the installation of a Born Learning Trail at Dickinson Park by ten volunteers from Boehringer Ingelheim, which has installed one of these interactive teaching pathways in a different park or school for the past four years.

“Each of these signs prompts a learning moment to be shared between a child and parent,” explained crew organizer Dale Baird.

At the same time, Brookfield-based Trident brought eight of its employees to an Ability Beyond Disability home on West Street to do some sprucing up and painting. Kevin Bielmeier, of ABD said the new paint and a few small repairs would be a welcome surprise to residents who were out of the home on work assignments.

“Now they’ll come home to a newly painted house,” Mr Bielmeier said. “This will really brighten their day.”