New Canaan was well represented at the annual Light a Fire awards ceremony to honor outstanding volunteers in Fairfield County, recently hosted by Moffly Media at the Westport Playhouse. Judy Bentley, president of Staying Put, New Canaan board of directors received the Best Friend to Seniors award, and Jane Williams, chair of the National Horizons program, a non-profit educational organization serving low-income children, received the Best Friend to Children award. James Naughton was master of ceremonies.
Bentley has been volunteering at Staying Put since its founding eight years ago but she’s been a friend to New Canaan seniors ever since she and her husband David moved here in l987. First she volunteered at the New Canaan Inn, became a board member and later paved the way for the Inn to become part of the Waveny Care Network. She has also served in leadership roles on the boards of Waveny Care Center, the New Canaan Community Foundation and is a board member of the Elder Care Council.
Cynthia Gorey of the New Canaan Community Foundation noted that Bentley not only excels as a leader, “but also gives hands-on time – driving residents to appointments, picking up their prescriptions or delivering Meals on Wheels.”
Bentley said, “My grandmother lived with me when I was growing up. I’m used to having seniors around; they have so many interesting stories to tell and I’ve learned so much from listening to them. This is very true today of our Staying Put members; we receive as much as we give in getting to know them.”
Williams has had many impressive roles after graduating summa cum laude from Duke with a major in political science and Russian languages. She has worked in the U.S. State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and as executive producer of the public affairs program Panorama. Many New Canaanites will remember her hosting of interviews on New Canaan Public Television, Channel 79, exploring local issues in her One on One series.
Growing up in New Canaan, Williams was a faculty scholarship kid at the Country School and recalls the importance placed on giving back to the community, by both the school and her parents, Pat and Hud Stoddard. When she returned to New Canaan with her husband, news anchor Brian Williams, 23 years ago, she became involved in the Horizons program that had been founded in l965.
Serving as board chair in New Canaan, she said, “We worked hard on expanding awareness of the divide between incredible wealth and incredible poverty in Fairfield County; having residents of surrounding towns understand that this is everyone’s problem, and creating an endowment. Jane has since helped expand Horizons to 45 programs around the country, and as national chair she finds it “an incredible adventure and opportunity.” She has seen the program transform lives; a child learns to swim at Horizons, then gets a scholarship to college.
Leah Kimmet, executive director of Horizons at the Country School says, “It’s hard to imagine a time when Jane was not involved with Horizons. She seizes every opportunity to share her enthusiasm about the difference Horizons is making in children’s lives.”
Jane Williams, left, and Judy Bentley.
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