UNITED WAY TO HOLD 6TH ANNUAL "CELEBRATING COMMUNITY CARING" EVENT

United Way of Hunterdon County will be holding its Sixth Annual "Celebrating Community Caring" recognition dinner on Friday, April 24, 2009 from 6-11 p.m. at the Grand Colonial in Perryville.

This event provides the perfect venue to celebrate the extraordinary commitment, creativity, leadership, inspiration and sustained service of volunteers that benefits Hunterdon County residents by having a positive impact in our community.  It also provides an opportunity to celebrate National Volunteer Week, which takes place this year from April 19 - 26.  This year, Paul McGill, a leader and longtime community volunteer, will be recognized as United Way of Hunterdon County's "Community Volunteer of the Year."

"Volunteerism is critical to our success and the ongoing success of the many programs and agency partners that we support," comments Bonnie Duncan, Executive Director, United Way of Hunterdon County.  "In the six years that I have worked on this event what has truly amazed me are the nominees.  Some are folks that I have known, others I've never met before.  But they often represent a group of individuals who just go about serving the community in ways we never hear about - making an impact that they are very reticent about taking any credit for.  And yet, Hunterdon and its people are enriched because of their selfless acts."

Paul and his wife, Annette, moved to Readington Township in 2000 and soon thereafter he got involved with The Readington Men's Basketball League, not just on the recreational side but also assisting with running the league.  The Readington Men's Basketball League expressed an interest in crating a charity, in memory of Shannon Daley, a Readington Township child who passed away eight years ago from a catastrophic illness.  It began with a fund-raising basketball game at Hunterdon Central High School.  The Readington Men's League faced off against a group of former NBA players who graciously volunteered their time, and all proceeds from the event benefited two seriously ill children in the community.  The Shannon Daley Memorial Fund was soon created.  Support for the Fund has grown and it is now an IRS approved 501(c)-3 tax-exempt organization whose mission continues to be assisting seriously ill children and their families in financial need.  the fund-raising basketball game has become an annual event, along with a summer golf outing.  Paul is the charity's Volunteer Officer/COO and continually demonstrates extraordinary commitment to the charity year in, year out since its inception.  To date, over $700,000 has been provided to over 30 local families and children who continue "the fight of their lives."  The financial benefits for the families has allowed a lot of kids to get much needed therapies, and saved more than one family from losing their home due to debt from their child's catastrophic illness.

While the primary goal of the charity is to help families that have undue financial burdens because of the health needs of their children, the benefits to the families go far deeper than that.  Several of these families have felt disenfranchised from the community; set apart for many reasons.  They all struggled with the decision of whether to open their door and let people help them.  Participating in the charity opened their very guarded hearts, and that is a rare thing.  It gave them faith in their neighbors and the greater community.  Paul made that happen; his sincerity won their trust. 

According to Darlene Daley, for whose daughter the charity is named, "Paul McGill is the most honest, principled, and selfless person who devotes significant portions of his personal time to insure the continued success of the Charity.  He leads the Charity in creativity by initiating working with the Hunterdon County Social Services advocate to filter worthy potential charity recipient candidates for interviewing/screening consideration.  Paul is truly an inspiration to all that know him.  He personally stays in contact with all recipient families past and present.  He does that because he deeply cares about the families that are assisted through the Fund.  Paul clearly devotes more of his personal time and energy to the Charity than anyone else.  He is truly both the 'heart and soul' of the Shannon Daley Memorial Fund and without his incredible contributions the Charity would not be nearly as successful.

When asked where Paul gets his volunteer spirit he acknowledged that the seeds were firmly planted by his mom who volunteered at a nursing home for thirty years.  Sustained service was a lesson he grew up on and so it just seemed natural, once he found his passion to help these families. 

All community members are invited to recognize Paul McGill at this fun-filled event.  Tickets for the event are $85.00 per person and are available from the United Way of Hunterdon County.  For more information about the event, to obtain tickets, or make a tax deductible contribution, please contact Bonnie Duncan at (908) 782-3414, or by mail at: United Way of Hunterdon County, PO Box 2290, Flemington, NJ  08822.

Mar 2009