Caroline Mills, 17, Groton, volunteers her time to help out her community. “I love being intimately involved in the place where I live; broadening my horizons and knowing that I can make a difference,” she says.
story & photo
by Maren Schober
Caroline Mills, 17, Groton, strides into the school office smiling and energized. A senior at Williams School in New London, Caroline exuberates love, joy and a maturity beyond her years. She is focused and has a good idea where she wants to go in life. What is behind this ball of energy? Service to others.
“My volunteer work in the community started when I was in the fifth grade,” Caroline explains. “My first community service project was called ‘Pinz 4 Kidz.’ I made decorative jewelry pins out of safety pins and beads, and all the proceeds benefitted the Pediatric Ward at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital. With the money I was able to buy two or three VCR’s for the children’s rooms, and six Leap Pad Learning Toys for the outpatient waiting room.”
What inspired Caroline to volunteer? “I learned the concept of service and giving from my parents. They taught my siblings and me to love our neighbors: the foundation of Catholic values. They also taught us the value of ecology and the need to preserve and protect the environment.”
The Mystic Seaport, L&M Hospital, Pequot Emergency Room and Sacred Heart Church all benefit from Caroline’s volunteer work with them. “I call Mystic Seaport my second home. I was a junior volunteer there since I was 12. I started out cutting fudge in the Gift Shop every Friday while I was homeschooled. I volunteered with the Children’s Museum Summer Program. During the summer I would also be on call for special events such as the Antique Car Show. I also participated in the Nautical Nightmares Event for three years. I was a “spirit” that scared people on tours. It was an awesome experience.”
Nowadays Caroline is involved in a variety of service to Williams School and the wider community. “I am a Senior Leader of the Service Committee at Williams School. It is my main focus. Along with others we oversee the community service projects for the whole school. On Hungry Country Lunch Day we educate the whole school about hunger in the world. Earth Day is another huge day at the school, where we get panelists from the area to talk about different ecological topics and we ask them questions. Then in the afternoon we visit different sites in the area and volunteer. This is a day we can give back to our community.”
What does Caroline want our readers to know about community service work? “It’s not hard! I love being intimately involved in the place where I live; broadening my horizons and knowing that I can make a difference. It makes me really grateful and aware of what I have and want to make other people’s lives better. I know that I want to pursue a life of service.”
Head Coach Mike Thilbault, CT Sun, said, “I have been a coach for eight years in the WNBA. I remember watching TV and never seeing the scores for the WNBA’s games. Now, they are on with highlights from the games.”
by Christopher Annino
Another season came to an end for WNBA team the Connecticut Sun. Head Coach Mike best put it, “It will never sit well with me to not be in the playoffs. In order to maintain a good wining team, you need to stay healthy and we didn’t, but it happened for the best reasons.” The Sun’s official record for last year was 16 wins and 18 losses with a winning percentage of .471. And although they didn’t win any championship they were at least able to acquire Demya Walker from the former Sacramento Monarchs.
“Demya Walker is a hard worker. We are very proud about getting her. She is a healthy player on the court. She is known for her toughness, leadership, and defense. Asjha Jones can not wait to work with her” said Mike.
Due to the demise of both Sacramento’s and Detroit’s teams the sports world feels that perhaps the WNBA shouldn’t exist any more. When Mike was asked about his opinion he said, “I have been a coach for eight years in the WNBA. I remember watching TV and never seeing the scores for the WNBA’s games. Now, they are on with highlights from the games.” He later added, “If you look at history, you will see that the NFL, and NBA gradually evolved into the commodity that it is now. With every year, the WNBA grows stronger in popularity.”
“What people need to realize is the WNBA is played a lot differently than the NBA. Instead of just dunking all the time, they rely on shooting and passing,” said Mitchell Etess, CEO, Connecticut Sun and president & CEO, Mohegan Sun.
As a result of their not-so-remarkable season, the Connecticut Sun was given the number’s 2, 15, and 27 in the 2010 WNBA Draft Pick.
For more information on the Connecticut Sun go to www.wnba.com/sun.
(l-r) Jim Cronin, president, and Bob Giffen, senior vice president of commercial lending, announced Dime Bank’s “small business stimulus program” on December 10th.
photo & story
by Jessica Warzeniak
Dime Bank introduced its “small business stimulus program” in a press conference on Thursday, December 10th. Jim Cronin, president, Dime Bank, announced that Dime put together a “$10 million loan pool” to help local small businesses and non-profits in need of financing in these difficult times. Jim said that the program is targeted toward credit worthy businesses and non-profits which, for example, are in need of funding for working capital, expansion, to upgrade or replace equipment or for those that would benefit by restructuring existing debt with more favorable terms.
Jim stated that the general perception is that banks are not lending which is prolonging the recession and preventing a recovery from beginning. “Small businesses are suffering,” he said. “The national media says that banks aren’t lending, but it’s not all banks. The larger banks might have stopped lending, but community banks have not closed their windows at all. They continue to lend. Dime has lent $32 million already this year.” Jim feels the negative press has many businesses reluctant to even approach a local bank. “It’s a self fulfilling prophecy. The feeling is, ‘Why apply when they aren’t giving any loans?’ Community banking is different. We truly serve the community.”
The program is designed to help those business and non-profits who demonstrated a successful operation in the past, but find themselves having difficulty obtaining the necessary financing. “It’s not a grant program,” said Jim. “It’s a loan program with normal bank underwriting requirements. They are what they are, and what they always have been. The businesses must show they are successful and have a good business plan. There must be an expectation for success.” Dime will evaluate each situation on its merits and, if the business is credit worthy, attempt to structure financing under terms and conditions that are most suitable to the business.
This stimulus package comes at a time when large institutions and credit card companies are cutting lines of credit and the government is cutting funding for non-profits. “We wanted to take the initiative as a community bank to do something positive,” said Jim. “We wanted to help out local businesses and through that, the economy.”
Based on successful programs in the past, Dime realized the way to stimulate the local economy is to create a specific loan program with a designated loan pool. “We put a dollar amount on it with a program and discounted the rate by half-percent,” said Jim. “They ask, ‘Why would we do that with delinquencies rising? Why would we take on more risk and compound that risk by reducing the rate?’ Because that’s what community banking is all about!”
“We think this will have a major impact on our local economy,” said Jim. “We hope that it will preserve and protect jobs and actually create new ones. We think it will be the breath of fresh air that is needed. It’s what the doctor ordered. It’s what small business has been waiting for.”
Jim encourages any local business or non-profit that is in need of financial assistance to visit any of their 11 convenient locations or call the following, in CT: John Estelle or Chris Gauthier at 860.859.4300 or in Westerly: Tony Antoch at 401.596.4742.
Aiden Latino-Davis, age 6, receives a donated helmet.
On behalf of the Mystic Marriott Hotel & Spa, a $500 check from the Waterford Group Charitable Foundation was recently presented to the Helmet Awareness and Bicycle Safety Organization (HABS) of Westerly. The hotel had recently hosted a 25-mile Charity Bike Ride to benefit HABS, led by professional cyclist and Cannondale-CyclocrossWorld.com Team member Jeremy Powers.
On hand to accept the donation was HABS founder, Nancy McBride. HABS is a non-profit organization that helps educate children and adults in the community about Helmet Awareness and Bicycle Safety. Since its creation in 2008, HABS has donated more than 800 helmets to children in RI and CT. McBride’s mission is to bring awareness to the public through education and helmet donations to all children, regardless of their ability to afford one.
Waterford Group Charitable Foundation is funded in part through voluntary contributions and fundraising held by the associates of Waterford Group and its affiliates, including the Mystic Marriott Hotel & Spa. “The Mystic Marriott is proud to support the efforts of this organization,” commented Michael Allen, general manager of the Mystic Marriott. “I’d like to thank our associates for their continued generosity and commitment to helping others in our community.”
