STAR OF BROOKLYN: Linda Dalton, CEC District 21 member

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Linda Dalton has made volunteerism a way of life since she left her job as a shipping manager in 1996. Her list of charitable efforts is long, and many center around the very place she where was raised.

Dalton has spent decades volunteering with District 21, where she was raised, educated and currently lives. She has played a number of vital roles, including treasurer and recording secretary. She has been a major force in the PTA as well, providing parents at I.S. 228 with weekly email updates on community and school happenings. As the outward face of the organization, she also helped start and continues to manage the PTA’s website.

“I let parents know what’s going on in the school and community. It’s vital that parents are updated and involved,” she said.

In 2011, Dalton was elected to District 21’s Community Education Council. Her passion is to help forward the education of children in and around her neighborhood, and with this new position she has pursued this goal wholeheartedly.

CAREER: Dalton worked at a shipping manager for a novelty import company from the mid-‘80s to the birth of her oldest daughter in 1996. During her tenure there, her responsibilities were extensive and literally spanned continents. She coordinated shipments from China to ports all over the country and dealt with relevant parties throughout.

Dalton kept extensive relationships with customers and it was through this that she was able to master the art of effective communication — something that has been indispensable during her time with the PTA.

FAMILY: A mother of two daughters – one in high school and one in junior high — being an involved parent is an unquestionable way of life for Dalton. “I want to know what’s going on,” she said. “Statistics show that children of involved parents do better in school. I stay heavily involved with my kids.”

Dalton was recently awarded the Bensonhurst West End Community Council’s Parent of the Year Award.

Her husband, whom she married in 1993, is a strong source of support for her efforts.

“He feels [volunteerism] is important like me, and he’s behind me 100 percent,” said Dalton.