As I sit here and reflect on what was a simply amazing evening for the United Way of Milton my thoughts turn to someone who was a good friend to many and a true driving force behind the United Way … the late Mario Belvedere.
As we turned around the numbers in front of a packed house at the Velodrome, I could see the biggest smile in the room belonged to Mario.
He was a passionate supporter of the United Way and one who taught us that nothing was impossible…dream it, plan it and do it. And we did.
Mario my friend, God bless you and this one was for you. Thank you for being my inspiration to continue to work with this amazing organization.
There are others who also deserve a lot of the accolades for tonight. There are two women who simply wouldn’t give up this campaign. At some points it looked bleak and it might not happen. Kristy Elizabeth and our proud CEO Katie Holmes didn’t give up. It wasn’t an option for them. There were 24 hours in a day but they found a way to use every second in this chapter of the United Way and they never gave up.
Thank you Kristy and Kate for YOUR hard work. As we turn the page in the chapter of the history of our organization, you two can be proud of everything that’s been done and will be done going forward. You’re simply awesome.
And finally, but not least at all we have to thank our coaches, our motivation and our inspiration. Shawn Saulnier and Bridget Saulnier drove the United Way to the next level. For years we were raising hundreds of thousands of dollars and yet they saw something more. With the tenacity of pit bulls they saw what could be for Milton. Something that was a pie in the sky thought just a few years earlier became closer to reality last year. 200k more was raised than ever before. But they said “no we can do this” and set the goal for one million again.
More hours than we can count they made presentations, speeches and would talk United Way to anyone who would listen.
Thank you Shawn and Bridget for everything.
Our board of directors is the best I’ve ever seen and everyone pulled their weight and more so to the United Way Milton Board of Directors. Thank you.
Thank you Milton for everything. All your hard work. All your encouragement and all your donations have made this campaign the most memorable of all.
Thank you!!!!!
Here is my Facebook Live Video of our announcement.