News
All Heart 4 United Way
June 22, 2010
| The United Way gave a group hug Thursday to the CRE industry for the $25.4M it's raised for the charity since '94. Also, United Way is gearing up for its annual Real Estate & Building Industry Breakfast on Oct. 29th, an intimate meal for about 1,000. Last year, 850 gathered to butter toast together. |
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| We snapped Mayor Menino speaking during last week?s sip ?n dip at Boston Properties' Atlantic Wharf complex, still raw inside but slated to open as the city's first green high-rise in February. For the Mayor, it was a special evening. ?These guys are my heroes,? he said of the developers, architects, engineers, lenders, and brokers. ?I'm amazed by how they always turn out for the community even though most of them aren't building or thriving right now.? He's especially grateful that their United Way donations help homeless children and families, whose ranks are growing in the slow economy. Homeless kids aren't just without shelter. Because their families move around, they may change schools several times a year, hurting their education and future. |
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| We snapped United Way?s Michael Durkin with The Beal Companies? Bob Beal, who Mike says has been ?instrumental? in rallying the industry to support the charity. Last year, the RE & BI breakfast raised $2.8M, including seats purchased and donations prior to the event. Already, 68 CRE and other companies have pledged to pony up, including Beal, Boston Properties, CBT architects, CBRE, Terra Nova, Nordblom, Goulston & Storrs, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and J. Moriarity, among others. At the breakfast, recipients of the 2010 Leventhal/Sidman RE & BI Awards will be acknowledged: Blakeley Investment Co.?s Gerald Blakeley and Boston Properties late Edward Linde. |
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| Boston Properties' Mike Cantalupa and his boss Doug Linde listened to the description of how United Way helps the community. For children, it helps them enter kindergarten ready to learn. For youth, it tries to make sure that teens graduate from high school with meaningful options for their futures. For families, it helps them become financially stable, so they can have safe, affordable housing. When congratulated on the mixed-use complex he's building overlooking Boston Harbor and the Greenway, Doug said, ?We don't think about congratulations until it's all done." |
