Author: Gavin Morrissey, JD, LLM

Commonwealth has a history of giving back to the communities in which we live and work. When the financial crisis hit in 2008, we took our efforts a step further, inviting our advisors to participate with us in community service projects at some of our conferences, as a way to pay forward the success we were fortunate enough to experience and help people in need. In late 2010, we formalized our philanthropic mindset into Commonwealth Cares—and we couldn’t have hoped for a better inaugural year for our charitable foundation.

Year-to-date (as of October 31, 2011), Commonwealth Cares has made grants totaling more than $130,000 to 75 different charities, including:

• Habitat for Humanity
• Pan-Mass Challenge
• Make-A-Wish
• American Red Cross
• Doctors Without Borders
• Boys & Girls Clubs
• Oxfam

Here we highlight some of our 2011 initiatives; we’ve also included some photos of additional events that took place throughout the year. 

CHEMO CAPS EXCEEDS GOAL
One of our key Commonwealth Cares programs this year was Chemo Caps for Kids, which provides hand-knit hats to children undergoing cancer treatment. What began two years ago as a small group of home office staff coming together to support a colleague whose son was receiving treatment for a brain tumor has evolved into a community-wide effort. In 2011, we invited our advisors and their staff and clients to get involved—even creating a module for our EasySite website program to help promote the cause. We started the year with a goal of knitting 1,000 caps to be donated to hospitals in the Boston and San Diego areas. Through your participation, we are elated to say that we have received more than 1,500 hats to keep those little heads warm and cozy in the upcoming winter months!

EVERY LITTLE BIT HELPS
Indeed, what really touches us about our various giving back initiatives is how eager our advisors and their staff, as well as our home office employees, are to get involved—even if it’s just to donate $5 for a glass of lemonade (more below).

As we’ve reported previously in this column, our educational and qualifying conferences consistently offer community service opportunities. Most recently, we teamed up with Habitat for Humanity and the Coalition for the Homeless in Orlando at our National Conference. Also this year, conference attendees have given back to Tomorrow’s Rainbow Ranch in Florida, Unity House in the Bahamas, and the Boys & Girls Club of Pikes Peak, Colorado, among others.

On a more grassroots level, new for us this year at the home office was participation in the Birthday Wishes program. Each month, two of our employees have been running this special program in Dorchester, Massachusetts, to provide birthday parties to children whose families have been displaced and are living in local shelters. The celebrations include presents, cake, balloons, and old-fashioned games like Pin the Tail on the Donkey.

Another highlight from this fall was a dueling lemonade stand event set up by Commonwealth employees to benefit Alex’s Lemonade Stand, a national foundation dedicated to ending childhood cancer, and NEADS (National Education for Assistance Dog Services), which trains and matches assistance dogs for people who are deaf or have a physical disability. We all must have been pretty thirsty that day—because we ended up raising more than $2,500 for these charities!

And in San Diego, employees participated in the annual Halloween Costume donation drive for the local Boys & Girls Club. Over the past five years, more than 100 children have received the costume of their choice!

As we head into the end of the year and the holiday season, it’s particularly important to us to be able to help others enjoy this special time of year. Two of our perennial favorite initiatives were back again this year. In November, several employees teamed up with Community Servings and its Pie in the Sky fundraiser. The purchase of a $25 pie (baked by some top area restaurants) helps to provide home-cooked meals to homebound, critically ill individuals (and their families and caregivers) in Eastern Massachusetts.

In late November and early December, we held our annual holiday gift drive for the Waltham Boys & Girls Club. Each year, we sponsor several local families who would otherwise not be able to afford gifts for one another. We purchase clothing, toys, and other necessary household items, wrap them in festive paper, and happily deliver them to their deserving recipients.

We are proud of the efforts—not to mention the large hearts—of our employees and our advisors and staff in the field. Every little bit you are able to contribute really does make a difference in the lives of others. And for that, we offer you our deepest gratitude. Best wishes to you and yours for a happy and healthy holiday season.

Gavin Morrissey is the vice president of wealth management and the chair of Commonwealth Cares. He is available at gmorrissey@commonwealth.com.