What's New?
Diaper Drive 2022
Team JBW is pleased to announce the completion of another successful fundraiser. In keeping with tradition, our team came together for our 4th Annual Diaper Drive, which benefits the Hartford and Milford Department of Children and Families (DCF). Thanks to the generosity and dedication of our colleagues, friends, and family, we were able to provide the Hartford and Milford DCF with a substantial inventory of essential products including 7,430 Diapers and Pull Ups, as well as 13,800 wipes! We also contributed a large supply of toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, and other toiletries.
Regrettably, the state does not provide DCF with funding for diapers and other critical products. As a result, the organization relies on donations like this to support the needs of our local youth and families. We are grateful for the opportunity to continue to support this critical community service and we are looking forward to our continued support to this program in 2023!
To learn more about the services provided by the Department of Children and Families, visit their website at https://portal.ct.gov/dcf.
'Tis the Season for Giving Back
December 2021
The holidays are an exciting time to gather with friends and family and celebrate the season, but it is also a wonderful opportunity to help our community members in need. This month, Team JBW completed its final charitable initiative of the year: our third annual Diaper Drive benefitting the Hartford Department of Children and Families. Through the generosity of our team members, colleagues, and friends, we are proud to have collected and donated over $3,550 in diapers and related supplies to this crucial program. The annual Diaper Drive initiative is reflective of our shared team goal to support local youth and families and we look forward to continuing to support this program in 2022 and beyond. (See photos below from this year’s collection.)
In addition to the Diaper Drive, Team JBW raised over $20,000 for a variety of charitable initiatives this year for the following local and regional organizations:
- Hole in the Wall Gang Camp
- Foodshare
- Special Olympics, MA
- Adam’s House
- The Kidney Cup
- Knights of Columbus (Chapter 33)
- Hartford Department of Children and Families
- Barnum Foundation for Life
- Paradox Sports
In recognition of these efforts, Justin Podbielski was presented with the 2021 Mass Mutual Community Service Award, and a $5,000 grant for future community activities associated with the Barnum Foundation for Life.
We’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished this year and our collective efforts to support our community. We will continue to commit time and energy to these efforts in 2022 and look forward to sharing updates with you along the way! If you would like to learn more about any of the organizations mentioned herein, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Team JBW’s Dan Champagne to Compete in Finals Round on NBC’s American Ninja Warrior!
September 2021
Make sure to tune into NBC on Monday September 6th, at 8pm EST to watch Dan Champagne compete in the American Ninja Warrior Finals! We are so proud of Dan for making it to the finals and for all his hard work and determination. Congratulations Dan!
In case you missed Dan’s previous runs, be sure to check them out in the links below:
Click Here to watch Dan’s Qualifier Run
Click Here to watch Dan’s Semi-Finals Run
Community Outreach & Canceled Client Appreciation Announcement
August, 2021
Pictured: Allison Wysota, Justin Podbielski, and Sarah Domena
We have made the difficult decision to postpone our 2021 Client Appreciation Event. We are hopeful that next year we will be able to come together to celebrate our clients again in person. We want you to know that we truly value you as our client and the trust that you continuously place in us. Our plan for our 2022 Client Appreciation Event is to go to Kinsman Brewery in Milldale, CT.
As a token of our continued appreciation, we have decided to make donations to Adam’s House and the Foodshare Organization in your honor. We have matched the Barnum Foundation for Life’s donation towards Adam’s House which is an independent grief education center for children and their families that offer peer support, educational programming, and coping skills to overcome the loss of a loved one in a safe and caring atmosphere. Foodshare is a regional food bank that serves Connecticut’s greater Hartford communities. They provide accessibility to Connecticut’s hungry communities with donations and resources. We are honored to support two amazing organizations doing some much-needed work for our local communities.
We want you to know that we make this decision with a heavy heart- we miss you all and were really looking forward to celebrating as a group yet again. However, with the amount of uncertainty still surrounding large group events, we felt it was best to hold off rather than put a lot of planning into an event that may end up being canceled again. That said, I feel like we are all starting to feel like there is light at the end of this long tunnel and anxiously await more normal days ahead. Thank you for your ongoing trust in us. We hope you and your family are all healthy and well!
For more information on Adam’s House, please click here
For more information on Foodshare, please click here
Team JBW’s Dan Champagne Appearing on NBC’s American Ninja Warrior to Compete in Semi-Finalist Round!
Team JBW is proud to share that our very own Dan Champagne successfully completed the qualifier round on this season of NBC’s American Ninja Warrior after being the first to hit the buzzer! Dan will now advance to the Semi-Finals round in Los Angeles, CA. Make sure to tune into NBC on Monday August 9th, at 8pm EST to cheer Dan on!
In case you missed Dan’s qualifier run, watch the video in the link below to catch up and learn about his backstory!
New Addition to Our Team
June, 2021
As we look back on the last twelve months, we are humbled and grateful to have been able to not only survive the craziness of this pandemic, but to have thrived. To work in an industry that allowed us to pivot to a work from home environment and not miss a beat is a blessing we do not take lightly and a testament to our loyal clients, like you. Despite the chaos in the stock market and the world, we got through that time of uncertainty better off than we came into it, in so many ways.
We are happy to report that we are back working in the office and had no confirmed cases of COVID on our team to date. I want to thank my team members for their resilience and commitment to our clients and thank you for your patient and ongoing relationship. We are hopeful that we will all have brighter (and more normal) days ahead for the remainder of the year.
We are also thrilled that so many of our clients not only "stuck to the plan" and stayed with us, but we were also referred to many new clients looking for professional guidance during this time. As a result, we have been in the unique position where were able to hire and expand our team while many of other companies were downsizing.
As a result we have also had to reorganize the roles for our existing team members, so I wanted to take a moment to introduce you to our newest team member, Madeleine Flannery (Maddie), as well as to reintroduce you to the team as a whole. Since we have added so many new team members in the last year, we wanted to clarify that new people in this instance is a product of expansion and reorganization, not turnover. Just three years ago we had 2 supporting staff members and now we are proud to have 5. We have also celebrated the retirement of John Reilly, and the transition of Stan Maigarie from full-service financial professional to an insurance agent focusing in the Medicare space. We have also welcomed a new advisor, Robert Brito to the group.
All said and done, we have had a busy but incredibly exciting year here and feel very good about the culture and direction of the team. We hope to continue to strategically expand in the years ahead, albeit more slowly than was required in 2020. Thank you for reading and thank you for being such a great partner!
New Addition
We are so excited to share that Madeleine Flannery has recently joined Barnum Financial Group and Team JBW! Madeleine will be working alongside Amalia Mangiafico and Emily Myslenski as our Client Service Associates for Team JBW. Amalia will continue to serve as Personal Assistant to Brian Paquette, Emily will continue to serve as Personal Assistant to Brian Bednarz, and Madeleine will be serving as Personal Assistant to Justin Podbielski. All three will manage respective client communications, appointment scheduling, and handling all service-related items. Madeleine can be reached at (860) 380-2664 or at mflannery@barnumfg.com.
Team JBW’s Dan Champagne Appearing on NBC’s American Ninja Warrior!
June, 2021
Team JBW is proud to inform you that our very own Dan Champagne was selected to be a contestant on this season of NBC’s American Ninja Warrior! Dan has been actively training for American Ninja Warrior over the past few years, often competing in local competitions and events and has also previously been a course tester for the show.
We were so proud to have been able to cheer Dan on virtually from our Glastonbury office. Dan will be making his national television debut on NBC’s American Ninja Warrior on Monday June 7th, at 8pm EST, make sure to tune in and cheer Dan on!
Barnum Foundation for Life Diaper Drive
November, 2020
We wanted to take a moment to highlight something that we’re honored to have been a part of recently: Barnum Foundation for Life’s 1st Annual Diaper Drive! 2020 has been a year of unthinkable challenges impacting every corner of our communities.
2020 has been a year of unthinkable challenges impacting every corner of our communities. The pandemic’s impact on abused and neglected children entering the DCF system is particularly heart wrenching. COVID-19 restrictions has led to delays in safely placing children in foster care, compounded by an increase in cases that has put strains on already limited resources. Many children come to the facility wearing diapers that have not been changed in days.
With the success of our Comfort Bag donations from the past, we discovered the urgent demand of diapers and in the facility. Over the months of September and October we held a donation drop-off in our Glastonbury office, in which everyone donated the supplies that the Hartford DCF office was in dire need of.
We are so proud to share that we successfully raised $2,100 and delivered 4,881 Diapers, 4208 wipes, formula, diaper cream, clothing and books!
This was such a fulfilling experience and I am so humbled to be a part of an organization that is not only keeping the lights on in the midst of this pandemic, but able to give back to the community that supports us. Thank you to the entire team for stepping up and making this such a huge success!
New Addition to Our Team
October 14th, 2020
We are elated to share that Emily Myslenski has recently joined Barnum Financial Group and Team JBW! Emily will be working alongside Amalia Mangiafico as our Client Service Associates for Team JBW. Emily will be serving as Personal Assistant to Brian Bednarz, and Amalia Mangiafico will be serving as Personal Assistant to Brian Paquette. Both will manage respective client communications, appointment scheduling, and handling all service-related items.
Prior to joining our team, Emily has held prior positions in customer relations in the financial industry for over two years. She has also worked as a member service representative within the health insurance industry. Emily is a Connecticut native, having grown up in Bristol, CT for some years. She now lives in Plantsville, CT with her husband and two cats. She enjoys crafting and making wreaths, as well as outdoor activities. Emily can be reached at (860) 258-3873 or at EMyslenski@barnumfg.com.
New Addition to Our Team
April 30th, 2020
While many companies are cutting back and laying off, we have continued to grow and expand our team as we adjust to a remote and technology driven world. We have exciting news and ask you to help us welcome a new team member!
Amalia Mangiafico has recently joined Barnum Financial Group and Team JBW serving as our Client Service Associate. In her role, she manages all client communication, assists with appointment scheduling, and handles service-related items. She is our internal point of contact in the office and our liaison between advisors.
Prior to joining our team, Amalia has held prior positions in customer relations in the financial industry for over four years. Amalia is a Connecticut native, having grown up in West Hartford as well as Portugal for some years, she now lives in East Hampton, CT with her fiancé Darian and two dogs. She enjoys spending time outdoors hiking and visiting the shoreline. Amalia can be reached at (860)-258-3823 or at amangiafico@barnumfg.com.
A note from Justin Podbielski:
"We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It’s easy to say it’s not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem. Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes.” -Fred Rogers
It was very special to deliver a check for $1,000 to FOCUS Center for Autism and Donna Swanson’s team. Xochil Rivera and I became familiar with FOCUS through our mutual client whose family has been actively involved with the center through their son Alex for years. We were blown away by everyone’s passion, kindness, and ability to do so much with so little. Thank you to Barnum Foundation For Life for allocating $500 toward the donation and thank you to my team, JBW for matching it! It is truly a blessing to work at a place where we have both the ability and the desire to give back.
Over the Fall our team gathered donations to create Comfort Bags. Recently we organized the donations and assembled the bags for children and teens. All bags contain daily essentials like soap, shampoo, toothbrush, and toothpaste as well as comfort items including coloring books, journals, markers and creative items. Over 150 bags have been provided to our local Hartford DCF (Department of Children & Families) office to aid in children’s transition as often they are removed from their homes without the opportunity to gather any belongings. Throughout the donation period we also gathered a large supply new and gently used toys & games, stuffed animals, diapers & wipes for the DCF office to have on hand for family visitations and to entertain the children while they are transitioning.
We are so proud of our Team, our Glastonbury Office of Barnum Financial Group, and Barnum Foundation For Life! We recently completed our Bikes For Kids event at a University of Connecticut Football game. We sold over 340 tickets, gave away 36 bikes to local children and raised over $3,000 for our cause. It was such a beautiful day and so nice to see our office come together for such a great cause. We had a blast and can't wait to be back next year!
Team JBW volunteers at the ABC House (A Better Chance) of Glastonbury!
We wanted to take a moment to highlight how we’ve chosen to spend some of our summer days. Our team has incorporated community outreach events into our mission statement and are proud to announce we recently completed our summer project.
A Better Chance (ABC), is a fantastic National program that accepts young minority men to the program based on leadership promise, personal motivation, academic record, and need. We fundraised, created a project list and completed a hands-on volunteer day for our local Glastonbury ABC House. The students, often from far way, reside in the Glastonbury home throughout the school year and attend Glastonbury High School. Our team completed some updates and refurbished the home for the students return this Fall so they can hit the ground running, focus on their studies, participate in school sports and be safe & comfortable in their home.
We would like to thank the ABC House for helping us coordinate this special day, as well as all those who donated or volunteered! It was an extremely positive and rewarding experience for our team and we are looking forward to our next philanthropic event.