Nutmeg Sate Financial Credit Union celebrated its new West Hartford location with a $5,000 giveaway to the school that received the most votes from Jan. 12-Feb. 16, 2017.

Duffy PTO President Joy Russell (left) and Principal Kristi Laverty hold the check for $5,000 they received from Nutmeg State Financial Credit Union in the townwide public school contest. Photo credit: Leslie Carpenter

By Ronni Newton

All 16 public schools in West Hartford were given the opportunity to vie for a $5,000 prize courtesy of Nutmeg State Financial Credit Union, and after plenty of promotion to the school community, Duffy Elementary School was named the winner.

The contest, which ran from Jan. 12-Feb. 16, 2017, celebrated the grand opening of Nutmeg State Financial Credit Union’s newest location at 973 Farmington Ave. in West Hartford Center.

“The Duffy PTO was excited by the opportunity to participate in this town-wide contest sponsored by Nutmeg State Financial Credit Union,” said PTO President Joy Russell, who was instrumental in encouraging voting.

According to Russell, the PTO promoted the contest through school-wide communications and Facebook, urging all to vote for Duffy. “We were so happy to have the support of our Duffy community to keep voting,” Russell said.

The school learned it had won when Nutmeg posted the results on its website on Feb. 17, and on Thursday, March 2, Duffy received the $5,000 check.

Duffy will have plenty of use for the money, but the school doesn’t plan to keep all of it.

“We are planning to ‘pay it forward’ by sending $500 to the Foundation for West Hartford Public Schools so that we can share with our fellow schools,” Russell said.

“The town of West Hartford is such a strong, welcoming community. We felt so grateful for the support when we opened, that we wanted to give back in a way that influenced the most,” John Holt, president and CEO of Nutmeg State Financial Credit Union said in a statement.

“Thank you, Nutmeg State and welcome to West Hartford!” added Russell.

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