Beacon Falls fundraiser electrifying

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Citizens for Tomorrow’s Downtown donated $500 Feb. 17 to Park Pals to help pay for the annual Beacon Falls Family Day. From left Brain Cloney and Joe Rodorigo of Park Pals, Liz Falzone, co-chair of Citizens for Tomorrow’s Downtown and Elena Cahill of Globele Energy. PHOTO BY ELIO GUGLIOTTI
BEACON FALLS-The Citizens for Tomorrow’s Downtown is putting a charge into fundraising, one kilowatt at a time.

Founded 15 years ago, Citizens for Tomorrow’s Downtown is a non-political, civic minded organization, which focuses its fundraising efforts on beatifying downtown Beacon Falls.

Last year, the group’s fundraising took an electrifying turn when it partnered with Globele Energy, an energy broker and consulting firm based in New Haven.

The way the program works, explained Rick Cherhoniak, co-chair of Citizens for Tomorrow’s Downtown, is that area businesses and residents sign on with Globele Energy to be their energy supplier, and the group receives a small donation for every kilowatt of energy used.

“Every month, as they use energy, they are donating money to the organization,” said Liz Falzone, co-chair of Citizens for Tomorrow’s Downtown.

Cherhoniak explained those who sign on with Globele Energy pay a lower rate for their energy. He said with the current tough economic conditions, this program allows businesses and people to donate to the community, while simultaneously saving money.

“These businesses are saving money by donating,” Cherhoniak said.

In the six months of the program, the group raised $500. While the group’s efforts center on downtown, it found another worthy cause to be the recipient of the first $500 donation.

Citizens for Tomorrow’s Downtown gave the money to Park Pals, a non-profit Beacon Falls organization that works to provide more recreational opportunities to the town. Currently, Park Pals is working to ensure the town’s annual Family Day event goes off as usual this summer.

Family Day is an annual summer event held around the Fourth of July and includes a fireworks celebration. Due to budget constraints, the town cut funding for the celebration this year.

Park Pals stepped in to try and raise the money to pay for the celebration themselves.

Brian Cloney, a member of Park Pals, said the group needs to raise $10,000 to pay for Family Day.

As of last week, Cloney said the group was about half way to their goal but needed to raise an additional $500 by the end of this month to pay for the deposit on the fireworks.

“We were scratching for that last 500 bucks,” Cloney said.

On Feb. 17, Citizens for Tomorrow’s Downtown presented Park Pals with a check for $500 putting Park Pals over the top to pay for the deposit.

Cloney said the group still has a long way to go to raise the rest of the money. But, he said, the donation was greatly appreciated.

“This was a big, big help,” Cloney said.

Citizens for Tomorrow’s Downtown continues to run the fundraiser and is in search of businesses and individuals to sign up.

Cherhoniak said as the group raises more money it will look to continue its efforts beatifying downtown. Ultimately, he said, it will be up to the people of Beacon Falls to decide where the money will be best spent.

“We are excited because we think things are going to start happening again,” Cherhoniak said.

Any business or individual interested in joining the program can call (203) 606-2159 for more information.

The Citizens for Tomorrow’s Downtown thanked all the individuals the following businesses for helping, and continuing to help, raise the funds: Ace Auto, Balanced Body Chiropractic Center in Naugatuck, Beacon Beer and Beverage, Beacon Falls Market, Beacon Falls Pizza Palace, Fitzgerald Automotive, Full Harvest Restaurant, Gabe’s Mobil, Kellie’s Kuts, Natural Beauty Salon, Queen Anne Wood Working in Naugatuck, S&R Family Subway Restaurant.

1 COMMENT

  1. Key to volunteering and fundraising are the people who make it happen. I applaud the efforts of Liz Falzone and the Citizens for Tomorrow’s Downtown.