Fairfield Christmas Tree Festival Raises Over $300K For St. Vincent's Special Needs Services

The Fairfield Christmas Tree Festival (FCTF), one of Fairfield’s favorite annual holiday traditions, has raised a total of $375,900 for St. Vincent’s Special Needs Services.

Board members and employees of St. Vincent’s Special Needs Services, based in Trumbull, CT, were presented with their record-breaking check from representatives of the Festival this week. “We are thrilled and honored to have been the 2011 beneficiary of the Fairfield Christmas Tree Festival,” said Raymond G. Baldwin, CEO and President of St. Vincent Special Needs Services. “This check will go towards our goal of building a state-of-the-art therapeutic pool at our Trumbull location. The children and adults with disabilities who attend our programs each year will benefit greatly from the aquatic therapy the pool will enable us to offer."

According to Carol Wheeler, Fairfield Christmas Tree Festival President and Board member, “Our 30th anniversary Festival was a huge success and this is the most money we have ever raised for a local nonprofit.  We are proud to be able to present this check to St. Vincent’s Special Needs Services.”

Carol Timpanelli, a FCTF Board member and last year’s Festival tri-chair added, “The Festival’s inaugural year in 1981 raised $12,500 and to have this year’s Festival raise over $300K is a great achievement for all those hundreds of volunteers who work so hard throughout the year.”

Since the Festival’s inception, over $3 million dollars and at least 90 local nonprofits have benefitted from this annual fundraiser.  The tri-chairs of this past December event were Christine Brown, Christina Longden and Carol Timpanelli and the theme was “A Special Year ...30 Years of Giving."

For more information on the Fairfield Christmas Tree Festival, please visit www.FairfieldChristmasTreeFestival.org or email mediarelations@FairfieldChristmasTreeFestival.com.  For information on St. Vincent’s Special Needs Services please contact Deborah Cox at 203-386-2714, email Deborah.Cox@stvincents.org or visit www.stvincentsspecialneeds.org.