Livingston County News
September 24, 2009
Local News, p.A3
Bee Raises $10,000 for Charity
Competitors trade golf clubs for dictionaries
By Courtney Veaunt and Sally Santora, For the County News
Courtney Veaunt/For the County News
Team members included Dan Kashorek (team captain), Bonnie Deprez, and Barbara Herman
“I’m sure we’ll see some spirited competition, but our main goal is to have fun,” said Art Hatton, an organizer with the Corporate Spelling Bee, an unusual fundraiser for Catholic Charities of Livingston County held last Thursday at SUNY Geneseo.
All 16 teams spelled their first words correctly. The ease with which they completed the round prompted Master of Ceremonies Don Alhart — who was expected back at the station for the 11 p.m. broadcast — to say, “At this rate, the 11 o’clock news is going to be on Tuesday.”
The second round got harder and more words were misspelled, including “obstreperous.” In the following rounds, teams were eliminated on words, including “blucher,” “habiliments,” “euphemism,” and “solder.”
After spelling “zucchini” correctly, the members of one team received the real thing, and the crowd cheered.
The final four teams included, Geneseo Rotary, Bank of Castile & Tompkins Insurance Agencies, The Golden Girls from the Hill (sponsored by Regal Associates), and Joseph’s Hammer Ministry (sponsored by Deacon Ed Mathis).
After misspelling “allemande” and “kookaburra,” the competition was down to the final two teams.
When the Bank of Castile & Tompkins Insurance Agencies team missed “lackadaisical,” it was up to the Joseph’s Hammer Ministry team to spell their word correctly.
The team spelled “prevaricate “and became the first winners of the Livingston County Corporate Spelling Bee. Winning team members each received a watch from the Geneseo Watch Company, courtesy of David Mann, Jeweler. They also received a trophy for their victory.
All other participating team members received a jar of honey – compliments of the Wal-Mart Supercenter, Geneseo.
According to Executive Director Joe Dimino, the Catholic Charities board of directors brainstormed for new ways to fundraise for the agency. They decided to abandon the annual golf tournament, which had been one of their substantial fundraisers for many years, and try something different — a corporate spelling bee. Team sponsors paid anywhere from $300 to $1,000 to host a team in the competition.
Thursday night’s event raised $10,000 for the charity.
DiMino said he received comments from a few of the contestants who said they absolutely loved the contest.
“They said it was very challenging to be on stage in front of 300 people and be able to spell the words without being able to write it down on paper.”
Catholic Charities operates on an $850,000 annual budget and assists more than 1,000 families, including 1,200 children in Livingston County through a variety of programs and services.
Retired Livingston County Judge Gerard Alonza and Cynthia Oswald, Executive Director of the Livingston County Chamber of Commerce served as judges for the event.
Catholic Courier
Monroe/Livingston Weekly Edition
Diocese of Rochester, New York
Vol. 4 No. 15
July 7/8 2007
Livingston volunteers are honored
Amy Kotlarz/ Catholic Courier
LIVONIA – Mabel Treadwell of Leicester insisted she didn’t know a thing about being the guest of honor at a volunteer recognition luncheon for Catholic Charities of Livingston County until she saw her name on the program.
It’s quite a feat to keep anything about CCLC a secret from Treadwell, who has volunteered about 5,000 hours with the organization since 1992, far outpacing any other volunteers.
Through the deft work of her daughter, Linda Richards, the director of the CCLC Connections program, Treadwell found out just before the April luncheon, which was held at Camp Stella Maris in Livonia.
The event honored 24 volunteers, including Treadwell, who received the President’s Volunteer Service Award for dedicating at least two years or 4,000 hours over the course of their lifetime to serving others. Treadwell received a standing ovation in addition to the award.
“Time is precious, and you share yours to help the poor and needy in our community, and we appreciate that,” said Joseph DeMino, executive director of CCLC.
Livingston County Administrator Nick Mazza presented a proclamation declaring April 15-21 as National Volunteer Week in Livingston County.
“As we honor these volunteers, we are bringing forth a new generation of volunteers,” Mazza said.
For years, Treadwell has been volunteering for a variety of organizations for the sole purpose of helping others, said Wes Kennison, supervisor of Town of Geneseo.
“Mabel doesn’t do anything for awards or recognition or a pat on the back,” Kennison said. “She does it because it’s the right thing to do.”
Treadwell has helped organize Leicester’s interfaith CROP Walk for years, organizes a Christmas program each year, worked on the CCLC’s social-ministry committee, helped plan the annual dinner for the organization and has worked on CCLC’s annual golf tournament. She also has worked on the Eat for Heat program, volunteered with parish appeals and volunteers through the Connections program, among other roles.
“I truly feel that God wants me to do this work,” Treadwell said.
Treadwell, the social-ministry coordinator for St. Luke the Evangelist Parish, said she believes in teaching her young grandchildren to volunteer. She said she couldn’t have ever volunteered without lots of patience from her spouse and children.
Treadwell is just one of many volunteers with the organization.
Jean Hamilton, a Faith in Action volunteer from Hemlock, said after she retired in 2002, she completed all of her projects, so she answered a newspaper ad and began volunteering to help an 82-year-old and an 86-year-old do gardening and housework.
“It gives me such an inner satisfaction to help them do these things,” Hamilton said.
Some said they enjoy the one-on-one relationship from volunteering. For example, Bill Hoppough for Hemlock, who retired from Eastman Kodak Co. in 1998, helps out an 85-year-old gentleman who has muscular degeneration and needs someone to help him with light housekeeping and yard work. Though the two lived not far from each other, they had never met.
“He’s become a good friend,” said Hoppough, who attends a Methodist church where he learned about the volunteer opportunity.
Several volunteers received a silver award for giving more than 250 hours of service in the past year, including Betty Allen, Laurie Farraro, Lynda Hally, Marcia Palermo and Denise Swezey. Bronze award honorees, who gave more than 100 hours of volunteer service in the past year, were Carol Bauman, Miranda Conway, Donna Cross, Karen Emerton, Donna Flaherty, Helen Foster, William Goodburlet, Jean Hamilton, Joseph Kane, John Kiehle, Craig Lyman, Tim McMahon, Devin Richards, Joyce Schwarz, Steve Schwarz, Virginia Watson, Jim West and Cindy Wetherbee.
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Livingston County News
August 2, 2007
AmeriCorps comes to Livingston County
Five VISTA volunteers awarded to Catholic Charities
Since 1964, Volunteers in Service to America has been fighting poverty in the US. In 1993, VISTA joined the newly-formed AmeriCorps Program and AmeriCorps*VISTA began its mission to provide full-time members to nonprofit, faithbased and other community organizations.
This year, five AmeriCorps*VISTA Members have been granted to Catholic Charities of Livingston County, increasing the group’s capacity and effectiveness in leading more individuals and families out of poverty. This is the Corporation for National and Community Service’s first VISTA grant to a Livingston County agency.
“This three-year award will be momento7us in the history of our agency,” Joseph DiMino, Executive Director said.
“It will enable us to utilize human resources and expertise of five people from our community or anywhere in our country who wish to help us address and solve issues of poverty in Livingston County.”
Our Financial resources are stretched too thin to add these five full-time members to our staff without assistance. The Corporation for National & Community Sevice asw the need in our community and was impressed by the innovative programs we have. They were most eager to partner with us.”
The programs Cahtolic Charities will begin or expand with the help of AmeriCorps*VISTA Members are:
- Development of a Food Pantry in Mt. Morris,w ith an emphasis on nutritious foods and healthy eating. A Kid’s Café is in future plans.
- Development of a Furniture Donation program, with pick-up service for donors and delivery service for the needy.
- A Retail & Marketing Advisor for our Connections program , a job training program for women in poverty. Connections operates a gift shop at 51 Main St. in Mt. Morris and soon will sell their wares on-line.
- An Employment Skills Development Advisor for our Connections program.
- Development of Home Safe Home, a home safety assessment and modification program for elderly & disabled people.
Livingston County AmeriCorps*VISTA Members will receive a $10,380 stipend for their service annually plus a modest health care benefit; a childcare allowance is also available to qualified members.
Upon completion of a year of service, Members may choose to receive a $4,725 Education Award, which can be used to pay off student loans or for new courses or they may opt for a $1,200 post-service stipend in place of the Education Award.
Recruitment for the five AmeriCorp*VISTA Members will be done locally at colleges & universities. Catholic Charities will also pursue “boomer” generation retirees, locally and notionwide – those who have an expertise that will directly benefit the development of these programs and a desire to make a difference in the lives of the poor and needy in Livingston County.