United Way of Greater New Haven honors two

NEW HAVEN - United Way of Greater New Haven "is proud to honor Andy Eder, a Guilford resident and president of Eder Bros., and Charlie Andriole, a Branford resident and senior and managing partner of the Andriole Group of Merrill Lynch," leaders said in a statement.

A recent celebration in honor of the two distinguished community leaders took place at the Pine Orchard Country Club in Branford, where they received the 2010 Alexis de Tocqueville Society Herbert H. Pearce Award, the statement said.

"The society fosters, promotes and recognizes the vital importance of voluntary community service and personal giving at an exceptional level," the statement said. "The annual award is presented to an individual or couple who embodies the American spirit of giving and volunteerism witnessed by Alexis de Tocqueville as he traveled the United States in the 1800’s."

In 2009, United Way of Greater New Haven renamed the award the Alexis de Tocqueville Society Herbert H. Pearce Award to honor Pearce’s contributions to the community, the statement said.

"United Way is grateful for the contributions Andy Eder and Charlie Andriole have made to our community and for the examples they have given us as philanthropists, community leaders and advocates,” Jack Healy, president and CEO of United Way of Greater New Haven said in a statement. “Just by virtue of who they are, they model what it is to be a caring neighbor and involved citizen.”

Eder "was the visionary behind creating Neighbor-to-Neighbor LifeLine – a joint effort of United Way of Greater New Haven and The Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven to meet emergency food and housing needs and provide relief funds for people throughout Greater New Haven, which raised $1.3 million a community effort to help meet emergency needs in Greater New Haven," the statement said.

Eder credits his family, particularly his father and uncle, for showing him “the way” and how to get involved in the community, the statement said.

His children have followed in his footsteps and are involved in the community as well at a young age. “It’s about trying to leave this community a little bit better than we found it for no other reason than for our children’s sake and our grandchildren’s sake,” Eder said, also in the statement. “That’s what it’s really all about. I get back so much more than I’ve ever given - in both my time, effort, energy and money.”

Andriole, is the chairman of the Board of Managers for the Soundview Family YMCA. As chairman of their Capital Campaign, he lead the effort to raise more than $9 million to ensure the opening of the Soundview Family YMCA’s new state of the art 38,000 square foot facility in June of 2010, the statement said.

Andriole credits his mother for teaching him “to do the right thing.”

“We are all products of our life experiences. As a young boy, I observed first hand my mother's unbridled passion and commitment to community service. Whenever a need arose, my mom was there, while raising three children, primarily alone,” said Andriole, in the statement.

Visit http://www.uwgnh.org/ to learn how you can become a leader in your community or contact Kathleen Norwood Crisafi (203) 691-4213 or knorwood@uwgnh.org

In photo, l to r, Barbara Pearce, Andy Eder, Charlie Andriole & Jack Healy.