The “No Bully Zone” Campaign

The Middlesex County Community Foundation’s Council of Business Partners (CBP) is comprised of local business leaders dedicated to giving back to the community that has supported them over the years. David Director, President of Connecticut Lighting Centers and Restoration Lighting Gallery, is the Chair of the Council of Business Partners and a board member of the Middlesex County Community Foundation. The group set out to research ways it could specifically impact the community’s youth. The group’s research led to its first project, the “No Bully Zone” initiative, using the expertise of the Rushford Center in the Fall of 2009.

Bullying in schools has become a serious and widespread problem and the group felt that an anti-bullying campaign could impact the area’s youth in a meaningful way. The collaboration between the Rushford Center and the CBP leveraged the Council’s financial resources and business contacts with Rushford’s expertise. The result is a program that utilizes peer leaders to educate other students and work with the school community to develop a safe learning environment for everyone.

The Council of Business Partners Includes:

(l to r) Arlene Mazzotta, A. R. Mazzotta Employment Specialists; David Royston, MCCF Board Chair; Laura Pedersen, A. R. Mazzotta Employment Specialists; David Preston, MCCF Board Member; Sheryl Sprague of Rushford; Colin Burr, McCutcheon Burr & Sons; Marc Levin, Malloves Jewelers; and David Director, Connecticut Lighting Centers.

[Absent from photo: John Sullivan, A&A Office Systems; Ted Rossi, The Rossi Group, LLC; William McCann, Susan McCann and Shawn McCann, Best Cleaners; James Mahoney, Mahoney Sabol & Co.; David Shulman, Suburban Stationers; Dan Zimmerman, DLZ Associates; Dave Gilbert, Direct Energy; Nancy Raczka; St. Mary’s Church of Portland and Congregation Adath Israel in Middletown of the Interfaith Golf Open Tournament.]