President Bill Marchand welcomed the 39 corporators in attendance to the Sept. 25 107th Annual Meeting of Maria Seymour Brooker Memorial. During the meeting, news was shared about the 2024-2025 fiscal year that ended June 30 and each corporator was presented with a copy of the annual report (available here).
Corporators were approved, adding five new corporators: Dayan Aguilera and Stephen Smith, Louis Donne, Dr. Matthew Pagano and Michael Ruwet.
Judith Theeb and Timothy Waldron were re-elected to the Board of Managers. Michael Ruwet was elected as a new board member and a thank you was given to Maria Gonzalez as a retiring board member and Bill Marchand, who will be stepping down after 15 years as Board President.
Re-elected to the board were: Charles V. Beyer, Miles Borzilleri, Jorge Baujin, Edwin G. Booth, Jr., Justin Giampaolo, Anne Giordano, Amy Marchand, William J. Marchand, Donna Mattiello, Catherine Oneglia, Margaret Roraback and Alan Temkin.
The guest speaker was Michelle Cook, ombudsman for the state Office of Early Childhood, who reminded everyone about the importance of child care.
“If we do not invest in our children, if we do not invest in our infrastructure of child care in the early years, there is no way they’re ready for what’s next,” Cook said. “Studies have proven that Connecticut is losing $1.5 billion every year because of our child care crisis.”
Click here for full article on Cook’s message.
Executive Director Christina Emery shared a year in review, touching on all four of the programs – Dental, Child Care, Pathway to Success and Relatives as Parents.
Four Brooker employees were recognized for their milestone anniversaries:
Lacey Gover, Preschool Teacher (5 years)
Christine Donahue, Toddler Teacher (35 years)
Sharon Grieco, Dental Hygienist (20 years)
Debra Ravlin, Dental Hygienist (15 years)
