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| Home >> Alumni Updates >> Valeri DeCastris | ||
| Valeri DeCastris, BA 05/1979, MS 05/1986 | ||
| Valeri DeCastris, M.S. Geography 1986 works for the Illinois EPA in Rockford. She is married to SIU graduate David Beccue, who manages Rock Cut State Park. They live in Rockford and are very active in civic affairs. They were featured in the September 2004 SIU Alumni Magazine for their volunteer work in a variety of capacities. They are active in the revitalization of the "old Italian neighborhood" in Rockford. They chair a committee of Festa Italiana, the city's second largest annual festival which draws 35,000 visitors and Valeri is a chairperson of the Greater Rockford Italian American Association. Recently, Valeri was instrumental in the creation of Rockford's first Italian Sister City. She was the recipient of Crusader Clinic's Spirit of Caring Award and the Friends House Adult Community Service Award and was featured on billboards throughout the city. Valeri has served as the Vice-President of the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) for 15 years and is on the Winnebago County Green Communities Steering Committee. David lived for 2 years in Botswana in southern Africa, where as part of the National 4-H Foundation's International Foreign Youth Exchange, he set up development projects and a foundation for agricultural projects benefiting youth and adults. | ||