LVG Names Three Litchfield County Residents to its Board of Directors
NEW MILFORD – (January 26, 2009) – Literacy Volunteers on the Green (LVG), the group that teaches English to newcomers to Litchfield and northern Fairfield counties, has elected Robert McDermott of New Milford and David L. Bain and Margaret FitzPatrick Wiener, both of Kent, to its Board of Directors.
In its three years of existence LVG has taught more than 300 people how to speak, read and write English at venues such as libraries and schools in a dozen communities.
Mr. McDermott, who was also elected Treasurer of LVG, is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Financial Planner and has been a professor accounting and taxation. He is Managing Member and Executive Director of Infiniti Wealth Management, LLC. He has served as Treasurer of the Town of New Milford and was a member of its Board of Selectmen.
Mr. Bain is a partner in Bain Real Estate. A graduate of Yale University with a masters degree from New York University, he taught English in Vermont and Louisiana before moving to Kent in 1973 and entering the real estate business.
After secondary school in Ireland, Ms. Wiener earned a Montessori Diploma in London, England and is a graduate of the College of New Rochelle. She has taught at schools in Connecticut and Maine and has been a tutor with Literacy Volunteers on the Green for the past two years.
“These three individuals are outstanding additions to our board and will help us in very tangible ways to carry the gift of the English language to newcomers to our region who want to become productive residents and citizens,” said Allan Priaulx, President of the LVG Board.
LVG has trained more than 100 volunteer tutors to provide instruction in English speaking, reading and writing. The organization also offers a family literacy program, programs to help non-English speaking parents communicate with teachers about the progress their children are making in school, and peer-to-peer programs under which high school students help other students with language skills.
LVG is a program affiliate of the national literacy volunteer organization, ProLiteracy America, and operates under the umbrella of the United Way of Western Connecticut. It has formed relationships with libraries and other organizations in about a dozen Litchfield County towns.