Lynnette Letsky Piombo

Thanks to Lynnette Letsky Piombo, brains, beauty, and a commitment to family won’t be the only things on stage during the Mrs. United States contest in Las Vegas this month – so will the ideal of giving back. And VolunteerMatch will be right in the thick of things.

Piombo, 44, from Waterbury, Conn., was selected to represent her state in February of this year, winning the title in part through her strong commitment to the values of volunteering and service.

“I always tell people that volunteering is the most selfish thing that you could do!” Piombo said. “When accomplishing something or helping to make a difference in someone’s life, you always get a euphoric feeling. Volunteering just makes you feel good!”

As the reigning Mrs. Connecticut, Piombo is taking advantage of a busy social calendar to speak about her service. She is also endorsing VolunteerMatch and reminding everyone she meets that they can find a great place to give back at www.volunteermatch.org.

In fact, Piombo says she learns about most of the volunteer roles she’s undertaking in her official capacity as pageant representative through VolunteerMatch.

“With VolunteerMatch there is a volunteer position for everyone!” she said.

Piombo is such a proponent of volunteering that she took the cause to the Capitol. Working with State Representative Kevin DelGobbo, she helped lobby Governor M. Jodi Rell to proclaim this past April as Connecticut Volunteer Month

Piombo says she started volunteering when a friend introduced her to The Junior League more than decade ago. Since then she has averaged between two and four hours of volunteering each week, peaking in the fall when she puts in as much as 10 hours a week to help fulfill the needs of Waterbury nonprofits leading up to the holidays. In addition to local food pantries, soup kitchens, and hospitals, she’s an active participant in programs with local chapters of the United Way and American Red Cross.

It was at a food kitchen where the importance of volunteering really sank in for Piombo. During a lunch service, she noticed a middle-aged man with tattered clothes and hair in disarray. 

She recalled, “I could tell he was a proud man because he was very grateful for the food and the company and he held his head high. He was well spoken and I knew that he was educated. I personally could not understand what he was doing there.

“I eventually found out that he used to be a computer engineer with a very large company and had fallen onto hard times. He lost his family, his home and children. He now lives on the streets. That day will forever stay in my mind because I knew that his situation could happen to anyone of us.”

Piombo says her favorite charities usually share at least one thing in common: a volunteer base that is truly passionate about the cause. “With energy, determination and passion you could accomplish anything,” she said.

As Mrs. Connecticut, Piombo is an automatic entrant in this year’s Mrs. Unites States competition, with the crowning set to take place on July 24. The pageant, now in its twenty-second year, recognizes the beauty, intellect and drive of America’s married women.

We think this is one candidate that certainly qualifies!

How about you? We all have a chance to endorse our favorite cause at VolunteerMatch – by volunteering!

Search for an opportunity today.