What do Haitian earthquake survivors, the Taunton Fire Department and local Special Olympics athletes have in common?
The answer, thankfully, is not a punchline.
Rather, all were among the scores of beneficiaries of the boundless charity served up this holiday season by the generous members of the banking and real estate industries both covered, and humbly served, by Banker & Tradesman.
Milford’s Consigli Construction donated a 14-foot box truck to help deliver humanitarian supplies in the wake of the devastating earthquake in Haiti earlier this year. A $30,000 grant from Bristol County Savings Bank will be used to help buy new Jaws of Life rescue equipment for the Taunton Fire Department. A brief visit to Marlborough’s Yawkey Sports Training Center so moved executives at Middlesex Savings Bank that they cut a check for $25,000 to the Special Olympics Massachusetts Capital Campaign soon after.
We won’t go so far as to say we are surprised by the generosity of our close-knit business communities. Indeed, every year around this time, we’re very pleased to shed light on the myriad charitable activities engaged in by our readership in both our print and online publications.
But just because we aren’t surprised by the charity of our community, doesn’t mean we aren’t simply astounded by its depths, year in and year out.
2010 was far from a banner year for our industries. In fact, it may go down as one of the worst on record.
But one would never know it combing through recent Banker & Tradesman story archives and the piles of press releases we receive every day and week.
Witness the $5,000 donation from HarborOne Credit Union to School on Wheels of Massachusetts, which provides educational services and support to children impacted by homelessness.
Or how about the $15,400 gift to the Fall River and Taunton United Way organizations on behalf of Mechanics Cooperative Bank? More than a third of that donation, $5,400, was contributed solely by employees.
In a little more than one month, employees of Brockton’s The Community Bank willing to put $5 in the kitty for the privilege of wearing blue jeans to work on Fridays managed to scrape together $530 to benefit local food pantries – so far. Their generosity will be matched by a minimum $2,000 contribution from the bank itself.
In 2010 alone, the charitable foundation of the Massachusetts Bankers Association awarded a total of $128,500 in community grants to 32 local organizations.
The generosity isn’t limited to just banks, of course.
This year, Woburn’s EXIT Realty Corp. International pledged $313,000 to local Habitat for Humanity efforts, bringing the total amount dedicated to $2 million, to date.
A partnership between the University of Massachusetts Boston, Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership and Beacon Hill Property Group is seeking to start a scholarship aimed at funding world-class UMass educations for deserving single parents.
Nor is the generosity limited to just the holidays.
Over the summer, Eastern Bank donated a total of $51,000 to local Boys & Girls Clubs – $500 for every Red Sox win. In August, the bank doubled up, splitting $1,000 per win between two clubs. We only wish the Sox had done their part and won a few more games.
Our intent here is not to offer a comprehensive list of donations and gifts awarded by the Massachusetts banking and real estate communities in 2010. We wish we had enough space to recognize every institution’s charity, large and small.
Instead, we can only marvel at the fact that, as the economy shrank many of your bottom lines this year, your hearts seem to have only grown larger.
We are in awe of you, our readers, customers and colleagues. Truly, there is no finer embodiment of the spirit of the season.
Happy Holidays, to one and all.
