Community Fund of Darien 2017

You Can Help Keep Darien Seniors Safe: Help Buy New Brakes & Tires for Seniors’ Van

Teens Have Died from Binge Drinking in Darien: Police Officer at Panel Discussion

Binge Drinking Hits Close to Home: Some Things Darien Parents and Teens Should Know

‘Haze,’ Documentary on Alcohol Poisoning and Binge Drinking: Monday Night at Darien Library

What Happens When Darien Police Visit an Under-Age Party with Alcohol

Letter from Selectman Susan Marks: Darien Parents & Grandparents, Check Out the OurDarien.com Website

Panelists: High Rate of Teen Drinking in Darien Comes with High Stress, Lax Attitudes

‘Truth & Consequences’ Panel Discussion on Teen Drinking at DHS Auditorium

‘Truth & Consequences’ Panel Discussion on Teen Drinking at DHS Auditorium

Fundraising Ride at JoyRide for Youth Community Fund

Group Launches Campaign to Counter Darien’s ‘Troubling Rate of Teenage Binge Drinking’

Community Organizations

By David Gurliacci | March 29, 2017

Darien Library

By David Gurliacci | March 8, 2017

Darien Library

By David Gurliacci | March 6, 2017

Darien Library

By David Gurliacci | March 5, 2017

Education

By David Gurliacci | February 21, 2017

Healthy Living

By David Gurliacci | February 9, 2017

Community Organizations

By David Gurliacci | February 8, 2017

Community Fund of Darien 2017

By David Gurliacci | February 7, 2017

Community Organizations

By David Gurliacci | February 7, 2017

Community Fund of Darien 2017

By David Gurliacci | February 4, 2017

Community Organizations

By David Gurliacci | February 2, 2017

At Home in Dar The Impact Vine ImpactVine.com 03-29-17

At Home in Darien is hoping to replace brakes and tires on its van for seniors, and it’s asking for $565.74 in contributions raised through a new crowdsourcing website started by the Community Fund of Darien. “We are looking to purchase new tires and brakes for our At Home In Darien’s handicapped accessible van that transports Darien Senior Citizens everywhere they need to go — medical appointments, grocery shopping, pharmacy, hair salon, physical therapy, senior center, bank, lunch — you get the picture!” the organization said in a post to the new ImpactVine.com website. At Home In Darien is an established nonprofit agency in town that connects seniors to the community by empowering them to stay independent, safe, healthy and socially connected.

The website, which started about a month ago, works a lot like the GoFundMe.com site, where individuals post descriptions of what they want and visitors to the website can add money to the pot so a specific goal can be met. With the ImpactVine.com website, the asking is being done by established area nonprofits for specific projects.

After a documentary film about the dangers of binge drinking among teenagers and young adults was shown at Darien Library on Monday night, James Palmieri, recently the school resource officer at Darien High School, told the audience that, just as in the documentary, a Darien teenager had died from the affects of binging on alcohol when his friends had left him. “This isn’t something that happens [only] in other places,” Palmieri, now a detective with Darien police after 4 1/2 years as the department’s school resource officer at the high school. He was speaking as part of a panel discussing binge drinking after the audience of about 150 saw the movie “Haze.” “[I]n some cases, one of which I was directly involved with, the kid ended up dying purely because he drank too much, and his friends didn’t want to deal with him,” Palmieri said. “One of them was thrown in an Uber [driving service car] and sent home, and you know, circumstances unfolded, and he ended up dying.”

Suzanne Denunzio Haze binge drinking 03-06-17

Before the documentary “Haze” was shown to about 150 people, mostly high school students, at a meeting Monday night sponsored by a coalition of groups in town concerned about under-age binge drinking, Suzanne Denunzio, a Darien parent, got up to speak. The documentary is about how a University of Colorado freshman from Greenwich died from alcohol poisoning in his first month at school. He was binge drinking as part of a pledging ordeal to get into a campus fraternity. Denunzio is a friend of the family of the dead student. We thought what she had to say was worth publishing in full and especially worth the time of any parent with teenage children, so we asked her to give us her prepared statement.

Come see the movie “Haze” on Monday night at Darien Library. The movie is about a college student from Fairfield County who died in September 2004 from alcohol poisoning after passing out on a couch in his fraternity house following a hazing initiation at the University of Colorado. A panel discussion with questions from the audience will follow. In 2008, the Gordie Foundation (named after the student, Gordie Bailey) produced Haze, a documentary telling Gordie’s story and discussing the issues surrounding college drinking and hazing. This program is for parents and mature high-school aged students.

When police are alerted to a teenage drinking party in Darien, most of what they do revolves around the safety of the under-age drinkers there and the safety of other people who might be on the road when intoxicated drivers from the party go home. That was one of the themes brought up by two Darien police officers involved with youths in town when the officers spoke recently at a meeting for parents at Darien High School. Detective Mark Cappelli, who works on cases involving youths in town, and Officer Bryan Wallman, who had just been named (two days before the meeting) as school resource officer for Darien High School, replacing James Palmieri, who had just been named a detective. Cappelli, who grew up in town and lives here with his wife and daughter, has been on the Darien police force for 21 years, and on the Youth Bureau for the past nine years. Wallman has been a police officer in town for the past decade and previously was school resource officer at Hindley School.

To the editor:

Have you heard about the new campaign in Darien? It has nothing to do with politics but everything to do with something much more important, our Youth in town! Darien is no different than many other towns and cities with the problem of underage and binge drinking. Here is one of the biggest differences that set us apart. We are tackling the problem head on and need your help!

With only two days on the assignment as school resource officer at Darien High School, Officer Bryan Wallman said at a panel discussion Tuesday night that one of his first impressions is how competitive students are with their academics, and that it may be making them more stressful. DHS Principal Ellen Dunn, who’s been working at the school for years and was also on the panel, said she’s been noticing how students seem more open and unembarrassed to talk with adults about drinking at parties and about marijuana. Don’t renovate that basement if you’ve got teenagers who might want to host a party, she advised parents. Those were some of the observations from the panel at the “Truth and Consequences” public discussion about teenage drinking and binge drinking. Other panelists talked about what parents can do between the time they call an ambulance for an unconscious person found at or after a party, how they should think about legal risks if some teen gets injured at a party at their home where drinking is taking place, or how to approach communicating with a teenager.

Truth or Consequences event graphic 02-05-17

A panel of five area experts will speak at Darien High School on Tuesday night, Feb. 7, about teen drinking from the perspectives of the law and law enforcement, how it impairs teenage brains and athletic abilities and how Darien High School deals with drinking. The meeting is for both parents and students. The panel discussion takes place in Darien High School auditorium on from 7 to 8:30 p.m. (or 9 p.m., according to the Community Fund of Darien website) on Tuesday. These panel members will be participating in the discussion:

Darien EMS-Post 53 Director Nancy Herling will discuss how Darien ambulance crews respond to intoxicated teens.

A panel of five area experts will speak at Darien High School on Tuesday night, Feb. 7, about teen drinking from the perspectives of the law and law enforcement, how it impairs teenage brains and athletic abilities and how Darien High School deals with drinking. The meeting is for both parents and students. The panel discussion takes place in Darien High School auditorium from 7 to 8:30 p.m. (or 9 p.m., according to the Community Fund of Darien website). These panel members will be participating in the discussion:

Darien EMS-Post 53 Director Nancy Herling will discuss how Darien ambulance crews respond to intoxicated teens.

Join us at 12:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 4 at JoyRide in Goodwives Shopping Center for an inspiring ride (designed to accommodate all fitness levels) led by Dina Fay! All proceeds benefit our Youth Community Fund ($40 suggested minimum donation)! Book your bike today. — an announcement from the Community Fund of Darien on Facebook.

Thriving Youth Initiative Community Fund of Darien toilet 02-02-17

« August 2022 »

What does 06820 mean to you? In Darien we value education, celebrate our successes, and are compassionate in times of need. We look out for our neighbors. But there’s a critical way we’re falling short: 06820 is also a place with a troubling rate of teenage binge drinking. ___________

This is an announcement from the Thriving Youth Task Force, led by the Community Fund of Darien.