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Charitable Status
Cheshire's Lights of Hope, Inc. was incorporated in the fall of 2007 and is recognized as a non-profit organization under 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. This IRS status allows all donations to be made as tax-deductible contributions. The CT Certificate of Registration, Charitable Organization Number is 51608.
All checks should be made payable to: CHESHIRE'S LIGHTS OF HOPE
How It All Began
Cheshire's Lights of Hope began on a very small scale in one neighborhood in Cheshire, CT in 2005. Jenifer Walsh and her neighbor, Lizzy Crespo, were talking about how their neighborhoods had luminary events around the holidays as they were growing up. They thought it would be a great thing to do on their street and decided to make it a fund raising event for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. That year, 47 homes on their street participated by lighting luminaries on Christmas Eve. The following year, several more streets were added to the event and money was raised for "Team Jenifer", an MS Walk team to honor Jenifer, who was diagnosed in 1998 with Multiple Sclerosis.
These 2 events united their neighborhood and showed how a simple act of lighting up the night could mean so much.
The tragic events of July 23, 2007 tore a hole in the heart of Cheshire. The town was hurting and scared. They wanted answers and wanted to feel safe in their own homes.
At a memorial for his family, Dr. William Petit spoke these amazing words that inspired a community:
"I guess if there's anything to be gained from the senseless deaths of my beautiful family, it's for us to all go forward with the inclination to live with faith and help a neighbor, fight for a cause, love your family. I'm really expecting all of you to go out and do some of these things with your family in your own little way to spread the work of these three wonderful women."
Jenifer and her husband, Don, didn't want Cheshire to be known as the town where a tragedy occurred, but rather a town that can recover and hope for a better future, while never forgetting the past.
They called together several friends and decided to do the luminary event for the entire town while raising funds for the newly established, Hayley's Hope and Michaela's Miracle MS Memorial Fund. This was a locally restricted fund set up by the Petit family to assist the over 6,000 Connecticut residents affected by MS.
The original date for the event was December 16, 2007. However, a major snow storm that blanketed the state caused the event to be postponed until January 6, 2008.
Over 1,000 volunteers, along with numerous businesses assisted in the assembly and lighting of over 137,000 luminaries. Bozzuto's Inc., a wholesale food distributor and the largest company in Cheshire, assisted in a huge way. They donated an entire warehouse for 2 months, along with supplies and personnel to help make this event so incredible.
A rally was held the morning of the event in which over 1,000 people attended. They heard the words of Dr. William Petit as he told them:
"We are trying to achieve some light from the darkness, some goodness from what was a terrible evil, and I hope now, my girls shine as celestial bodies for all to see".
The 2007 Luminary event resulted in a $127,000 donation to the Hayley’s Hope and Michaela’s Miracle MS Memorial Fund, while bringing light to a dark period in Cheshire.
To learn more about the Petit Family Foundation, click on the logo.
Current & Future Objective
The mission of Cheshire's Lights of Hope is to unite as a community, to light up our town in hope of a better world, and to raise funds for local charities. Cheshire's Lights of Hope was established to encourage our community to have hope in the midst of the darkness that often seems more prevalent in our world.
Our goal is to annually involve the entire Town of Cheshire Connecticut, neighborhood by neighborhood, in the purchase and display of luminaries which will symbolically light up a winter night while supporting local charities. This words of inspiration spoken by Dr. William Petit, will carry our dreams and focus our vision forever.
Cheshire's Lights of Hope is responsible for raising all the necessary funds to support our events and goals for giving back to the community.
Our Board Of Directors
President - Don Walsh
Vice President - Jenifer Walsh
Treasurer - Trudith Mason
Our Committee Members
Edmonde Bernier - Volunteer Coordinator
Suzanne Clark
Bruce Diamond
Steven Feero -
Anita Graham
Laura Gremelsbacker
Deb Hajjar - Secretary
Andi Hughes - Public Relations
Mark Iadarola - Data Systems Coordinator
Ron Kochman - Photographer
Kim Mach - Schools & Police Liaison
Andi Mackey
Diana Martini - Business Sponsorship Chairperson
Trudy Mason
Joanne Monroe - Timberline Liaison
April Reach
Deb Tyrrel
Don Walsh
Jenifer Walsh - Street Captains Chairperson
Loryn Watkinson
Linda Witkowski
Lisa Zarra
Interested In More Information
Regarding our current event, check out our About the Event section. For details on why families, individuals and businesses within our community choose to participate, check out our Why Participate section.
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