Yesterday I wrote about the good works that commercial real estate firms complete throughout the year, not just during the holiday season.
Well, here’s more proof:
First, there’s Walker & Dunlop, the commercial real estate financing company. Walker & Dunlop in 2012 raised $100,000 for Fannie Mae’s Help the Homeless Program. Since 2006, the company has raised more than $500,000 for this program.
Help the Homeless raises awareness and funds for organizations that are working to prevent and end homelessness, with an emphasis on programs that help homeless people return to independent living.
Jeff Hayward, senior vice president and head of multi-family with Fannie Mae, had nothing but praise for Walker & Dunlop’s efforts.
“Outstanding! That is the word that best describes the efforts of Walker & Dunlop to support our Help the Homeless event,” he said in a written statement. “I am awed by your efforts to raise money for a cause that means so much to all of us at Fannie Mae. Thank you for your collective generosity. It was inspirational.”
Then there’s the charitable work turned in by Kansas City-based Block Real Estate Services.
For the second year Operation Breakthrough has set up its Santa’s Shop at one of Block Real Estate Service’s vacant industrial warehouse spaces in Kansas City, Mo. Every year Operation Breakthrough adopts more than 800 families, supplying them with gifts for each family member. Operation Breakthrough also provides extra toys for the holiday store, meaning that the program serves more than 3,000 children.
Block Real Estate Services employees volunteered to help with this operation by sorting toys, unloading donation trucks and helping fulfill shopping list of adopted families as they came to pick-up their holiday gifts.
The children who benefit from Operation Breakthrough come from low-income families. Some are homeless and many are in foster care. Nearly all live in single-parent families headed by working-poor women. In the fall the parents select gifts from a predetermined wish list of items that their children would enjoy.
Again, these two stories should serve as a reminder of all the good that commercial real estate companies do throughout the year. It really is a testament to the industry.
