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06/08/2016 08:30 AMBack in 1990, Sheryl La Monaca was a Branford High School senior who loved her town and couldn’t wait to join her classmates at a Branford Festival booth, scooping Italian ice to serve to the masses.
Today, Sheryl La Monaca Raffile is a busy mother of two who still loves Branford and the Branford Festival. That’s why she’s delighted to be helping out as the 2016 Branford Festival’s Corporate Fundraising co-chair. Although she’s only in her first year as co-chair, Sheryl has done an amazing job of helping foster returning corporate sponsors and to usher in several new additions.
Every sponsor is valuable as they help make up the main funding arm of this amazing, three-day event. As a non-profit, all-volunteer entity, Branford Festival also contributes to the town with two high school scholarships annually and by helping to sponsor the Branford Jazz Festival summer series each year.
This year, the 32nd annual Branford Festival takes over the Branford Green Friday, June 17 through Sunday, June 19. Once again, the ’fest is packed with incredible food booths, fun things to do, and stellar free entertainment on the Town Hall stage, where dozens of sponsor banners will be hoisted up to share the spotlight.
“I probably was one of those people, years ago, who thought, ‘Wow, this is a great event, and it’s all free!’” says Sheryl, laughing. “Unless you get involved, you don’t see how everybody comes together to make it happen—from the volunteers to the sponsors who support it. Everybody has their piece to contribute, and when it all comes together, it’s amazing.”
Sheryl signed on to help with last year’s (2015) Branford Festival after she saw a call for volunteers on the ’fest’s Facebook page (search The Branford Festival on Facebook; there’s also a lively website, www.branfordfestival.com). Even though Sheryl holds down a job in the Finance Department at Yale-New Haven Hospital (where she enjoys volunteering with fundraising and community service projects) and is proprietor of a small local enterprise (SweeTreats, an ice cream truck)—and also is a member of the Branford Little League (BLL) board—she wanted to find other ways to become involved in her community. What makes her motivation even more remarkable is that Sheryl uses a wheelchair, after she and her fiancé survived a life-altering small plane crash just a few years ago.
For her part, Sheryl says, “I just always feel like I can do more,” adding she simply enjoys volunteering.
“If I could do it full time, I would. I can do any kind of volunteer work and I would be content,” she says. “Chris and I got a second chance at life, so we both feel like we want to make it the best second-time around possible.”
When Sheryl first joined the Branford Festival Committee, she wanted to get involved with bringing in corporate sponsors, but didn’t expect to be named co-chair in less than a year later. But Festival Chairman Dennis Nardella knew Sheryl from BLL, where she loves her role of bringing in corporate sponsors to help support the all-volunteer youth sports organization. So, when the Branford Festival Corporate Fundraising chairperson role opened up, Nardella asked Sheryl to sign on.
“Working with Dennis is really fun, and he’s been like my mentor when it comes to getting everything in place to help with the festival’s corporate sponsors,” says Sheryl, who was joined this year by co-chair Rene Baldo.
“We really feel good about getting sponsors involved in the festival,” says Sheryl. “Our Branford businesses, they all want to give back and stay within our community. And that’s important to us, because you want them to grow and stay. That’s Branford—we all stick together and we all help each other out. This is Branford’s one big event we hold every year, and this is their way of saying, ‘Yes, I want to be involved.’”
Sponsors can assist at different levels: Apex, Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze. There are three Platinum Sponsors this year (Pasta Cosi, ABC-Lers, and Nardella Turf Care) and dozens of others involved at other levels of giving. Sheryl sends heartfelt thanks to each of them, and wants to do more to make sure the public is aware of how critical each sponsor is to the festival.
“When you look up at the stage and you see all those banners, every single one of them represents someone who is showing they’re involved with their town. They didn’t just do something to get their name on a banner; they’re helping to pay for this event,” says Sheryl. “Without them, we wouldn’t have three days of great entertainment. Without that, where are we? I don’t think people understand that.”
Just some of the quality nightly entertainment lined up for this year’s Branford Festival includes Friday night’s bill-topper “ZoSo: The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Experience” and Saturday night’s shows including opener “Supernatural: The Ultimate Tribute to Santana,” followed by “China Grove: The Doobie Brothers All Star Tribute Band.”
More than 15,000 people flock to the festival each year. In addition to support from corporate sponsors, the Festival Committee is grateful to individuals and residents who contribute what they can as donations or show their support by buying a festival print or taking part in other fundraising opportunities.
“It takes lot of money just to put on this event,” says Sheryl. “We’re really lucky to have so many people in the community who want to give and are looking for a chance to get involved. I love the festival, and I love Branford; so volunteering with corporate sponsors is just a win-win. This was something I really wanted to do.”