In the News

Mary Ann White , a Realtor with Coldwell Banker of Orange was honored for her support of the ACES Education Foundation

March 26th, 2015

March 26, 2015: ACES Education Foundation celebrated The Art of Giving, its 12th Annual Fundraising at ACES Educational Center for the Arts. The Foundation honored three individuals for their generous support of ACES Marilyn Ferguson, Mary Ann White, and Blessing Offor. Mary Ann White is a Realtor with Coldwell Banker of Orange and has been selling real estate in the region for the past 28 years. She has been recognized with the Five Star Realtor Award for each of the last five years by her satisfied clients. She has given back to her community in a wide variety of roles: as a member of the Board of Directors of the West Haven Chamber, as a member of the Orange Chamber Women’s Leadership Committee, and as a participant in many other local nonprofit activities. For the last 15 years, she has served on the Business Advisory Council for ACES and has served as co-chair of the Council for five years.

Marilyn Ferguson has been in the New Haven area for decades and has recently retired as Vice President and Small Business Loan officer at TD Bank. She co-chaired the ACES Business Advisory Council with Mary Ann White for the past five years. Ms. Ferguson is a founding member of ACES Business Advisory Council and served as cochair since its inception.

Blessing Offor is an ACES Educational Center for the Arts (ECA) alumnus, singer / songwriter and finalist on NBC’s The Voice Season 7 (Fall 2014). Born in Nigeria, he came over at age 6 to seek medical assistance for congenital glaucoma. After an accident at 10 years old, he was left permanently blind and that’s when he turned his focus to music. While attending Hamden High School, he was given the opportunity to supplement his musical education at ACES which he credits for putting him on the path to success. Since then, he attended the prestigious Belmont University music program in Nashville, and performed on Bravo’s Platinum Hits, and NBC’s The Voice, where all four judges turned their chairs for him. His album, “Roots” came out on February 10th, 2015.

The ACES Education Foundation sponsors include Aetna, Brown and Brown Insurance, Performance Environmental Services and USI Insurance Services. Sav-Rite Liquors of North Haven and Thimble Island Brewery. The ACES Education Foundation exists to support ACES (Area Cooperative Educational Services) programs and raises funds for programs and activities for ACES schools. In 2014, the ACES Education Foundation awarded close to $45,000 in grants to ACES schools. ACES is the regional educational service center for the greater New Haven area. Its eight schools and many programs have been serving the community for close to fifty years. For more information on ACES and the ACES Education Foundation, visit www.aces.org.