The American Red Cross in Farmington announced honorees for its 16th annual Community Heroes Breakfast Jan. 30 at the Stamford Marriott Hotel and Spa, 243 Tresser Blvd..
A single Stamford lifeguard and the city of Norwalk span the scope of the six awards. The honorees represent those who have made a life-saving or life-changing difference in their communities, according to the Red Cross.
Registration begins 7 a.m. Breakfast is 7:30 a.m. Tickets for the event are $40. Wells Fargo is Statewide Leadership Sponsor.
“The Heroes Breakfast is an inspiring highlight of the year for us,” said American Red Cross Connecticut and Rhode Island Region CEO Mario Bruno.
“The people and organizations we are honoring do extraordinary things. They represent the best in the human spirit and reflect the Red Cross ideal of helping others,” he said.
The awards and awardees, as presented by the Red Cross, are:
”¢ Workplace Hero Award: “General Electric, for its commitment to supporting American Red Cross disaster relief work and programs as well as its outstanding philanthropic and volunteer commitment to communities across Connecticut and the nation.”
”¢ Life Saving Award: “Town of Westport employees Ian Chasnow, David Ellis and Joseph Bairaktaris for their quick thinking and collaborative actions in saving the life of a co-worker who suffered a heart attack at work.”
”¢ Community Resilience Award: “The city of Norwalk, for its multiple programs to better support its citizens and strengthen its infrastructure in disaster preparedness, response and recovery.”
”¢ Military Hero Award: “Alfred Meadows of Huntington, a U.S. Army veteran, Purple Heart Medal recipient and founder of “Operation Gift Cards,” which has presented more than 17,000 thank you kits valued at more than $800,000 to wounded troops and other military support groups.”
”¢ Spirit of the Red Cross Award: “The Echo Hose Hook & Ladder Company 1 in Shelton, for their extraordinary work at a major fire in Shelton, in which they successfully evacuated 28 residents from the building, directly rescuing five of those residents. In the days after the fire, the fire company became a central point of coordination to support the recovery needs for the building residents.”
”¢ Water Safety Award: “Brenda Moratoya of Stamford, for her role in saving a drowning swimmer off Cummings Beach in Stamford last summer.”
“Nearly 96 percent of the American Red Cross workforce is made up of volunteers who work every day to change lives and save lives,” said Bruno. “They are everyday people doing extraordinary things, like the heroes we will honor on January 30.”
To purchase tickets online, visit redcross.org/ct/heroes.
