The Alternative Press

It was a night filled with elegant attire and fine dining as the Westfield United Fund (WUF) honored retiring Executive Director Linda Maggio and celebrated its 75^th year in service to the local community.

Board members, volunteers, family and friends gathered this evening at the Echo Lake Country Club to pay tribute to Maggio for her 37 years of leadership and dedicated service to WUF. Among them were Mayor Andrew Skibitsky, Assemblyman Jon Bramnick, WUF Board President Charles Weidman, Roger D. Love, Jr., Carolyn Fleder, Matthew Forstenhausler and James J. Gruba.

“I’ve never seen anyone so dedicated, focused, [and] caring – on a single agency/mission as I’ve seen with Linda,” said Charles Weidman, Westfield United Fund Board president.

During Maggio's time with WUF, the annual fundraising has more than doubled “from $290,000 to a high of $700,000,” said Matthew Forstenhausler.

When declaring Maggio’s many contributions to the town of Westfield, Carolyn Fleder explained that “Linda represents the essence of Westfield’s DNA”.

Mayor Andrew Skibitsky was on hand to declare a proclamation from the town of Westfield stating “Linda has been dedicated to strengthening families, nurturing children and youth, supporting elders, increasing independence and self-sufficiency, respecting diversity, and promoting health and well-being…earning her numerous community service awards along the way…the Town of Westfield wishes to honor Ms. Maggio…[and] hereby offer our collective thanks…for her extraordinary service to the greater Westfield community…”

“For all your love and support, I thank you and am so grateful. My hardest and saddest achievement is saying goodbye to you tonight,” Maggio said in response to all the love and praise.

Maggio will be assuming the position of Director Emeritus, effective October 1, 2012. Stepping into Maggio's position will be Deirdre Gelinne, Assistant Director and a past WUF volunteer.

The Westfield United Fund’s 75^th Anniversary Celebration planning committee included Wendy Cozzi, Jill Dispenza, Deirdre Gelinne, James McCabe, John H. Schmidt, Nancy Vickers and Darielle Walsh.

The Westfield United Fund was founded in 1937 with a mission to help local residents through providing support in terms of monetary funds to local agencies and programs offered in the community. The WUF has distributed more than $25 million to various member agencies.

For more information, to become involved, or to donate to the Westfield United Fund, please go to: http://www.westfieldunitedfund.org