United Way to honor DelGobbo at annual meeting

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Kevin DelGobbo of Naugatuck will receive the Mary H. Connolly Community Caring Award at the United Way of Naugatuck and Beacon Falls’ 49th Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner March 8. –CONTRIBUTED

Kevin DelGobbo is no stranger to public and community service.

His resume includes a 12-year stint serving Naugatuck in Hartford as a state representative. Locally, he has served on several borough boards, including the Board of Mayor and Burgesses and Board of Finance.

DelGobbo’s work on behalf of the community is not limited to the political realm. He is currently on the Naugatuck YMCA’s Board of Directors and a corporator for Connecticut Community Care, Inc. DelGobbo has been a board member for Naugatuck Ambulance and president of the board, board member, and campaign chair for the United Way of Naugatuck and Beacon Falls.

For all that DelGobbo has given and continues to give to the community, the United Way will honor him with the organization’s Mary H. Connolly Community Caring Award.

“I’m incredibly honored,” said DelGobbo, a 47-year-old borough resident. “The United Way is an organization I believe in very deeply.”

DelGobbo said he was especially honored to receive an award named after Connolly, a Naugatuck woman and former executive director of the United Way, who he has known since he was a child and described as an “amazing lady,” and said her husband, Joe, had been his principal at City Hill Middle School.

“I’ve known them since I was a little kid, so to have an honor that bears their name is very humbling,” DelGobbo said.

The award is presented annually to an individual or individuals who have demonstrated outstanding support to the United Way and community and have set the standard for service to the community. The United Way will recognize DelGobbo on March 8 at its 49th Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner.

“From the United Way’s perspective, I’m glad that we have a volunteer like Kevin in our community,” said Lisa Shappy, executive director of the United Way of Naugatuck and Beacon Falls.

As president of the board of directors, Shappy said DelGobbo moved the United Way forward.

“I really learned a lot working with him,” said Shappy, who added she still applies those lessons to this day.

Shappy said DelGobbo is someone who believes in the community.

“Getting to know Kevin, he is someone who would do anything for his community and the people of Naugatuck,” she said.

DelGobbo credited his family and the community with instilling a sense of civic pride and duty in him. The amazing thing about Naugatuck, DelGobbo said, is that there are so many people and organizations in existence that support the community.

“It was sort of an environment I grew up in,” he said.

Personally, DelGobbo said the rewarding feeling he receives from being involved and helping out is indescribable.

“It truly is gratifying when you know you’ve helped to make a difference,” DelGobbo said.

Along with DelGobbo, the United Way will recognize a host of other businesses and individuals who have contributed greatly to the past year’s campaign.

For the second year in a row, Naugatuck Valley Savings and Loan will be honored with the Silver Bowl Award for increasing employee participation, corporate donations and employee donations.

Naugatuck High School Principal Jan Saam will receive the Coordinator of the Year Award for organizing the Board of Education’s efforts in donating to campaign.

Ronald Pugliese, executive director of economic development for Waterbury, is the special guest speaker for the evening.

As the United Way prepares to enter its 50th year, Shappy felt the dinner would be a good time to bring back key figures that played crucial roles in the United Way’s history. Pugliese was president of the United Way’s Board of Directors in the 1980s.

“We thought why not bring back some of the figures that we’re so instrumental in the success of the United Way,” Shappy said.

The 49th Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner will be held March 8 at Leary’s Crystal Room, 98 School St., beginning at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $50 per person and need to be reserved by March 1. For more information or tickets, call the United Way office at (203) 729-1564.