©2017 Saratoga Photographer.com
By Maureen Werther
During a recent luncheon at the Hall of Springs celebrating Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Blake, Realtors 95 years of helping residential and commercial buyers and sellers across the Capitol Region, the prevailing theme was as much about giving back to the community as it was about being successful in business.
Blake Realty was founded in 1922 by Samuel Blake and has flourished under four generations of family guidance. Throughout the course of its history, the family owned-and-operated company has sponsored a wide variety of local and regional philanthropic causes, and it has encouraged employees and agents to do the same.
The company has gone through several iterations, from Blake to Prudential Manor Homes, to its recent acquisition by Berkshire Hathaway. Despite the changes of name, the culture continues its philanthropy. JoAnn White, vice president of the company’s Saratoga Springs office on Broadway, has always embraced the philosophy of giving back, through her team’s ongoing support of the city’s Code Blue program for the homeless.
She said she was shocked and saddened several years ago by news of the death of a homeless woman who was found frozen to death in town and whose demise sparked the creation of Code Blue. Meeting with her team, they brainstormed about how they could help Shelters of Saratoga develop a safe place for homeless people to go when the temperatures dropped to dangerously low levels.
The first temporary home for Code Blue was at the Church of St. Peter in Saratoga Springs, the elementary school that White attended as a child. The volunteers and support team there were badly in need of money and supplies.
“I asked the agents in my office for help and they stepped up in a huge way,” said White. “They canvassed the neighborhood, all the businesses on Broadway and all the side streets. Together, we donated more than $5,000 in goods and services.”
White and her team have not forgotten their commitment to Code Blue. White said she is thrilled that a permanent shelter will be built on Walworth Streets.
Berkshire Hathaway continues to provide material and monetary support to Shelters of Saratoga.
Another Berkshire Hathaway employee who embraces the philosophy of giving back is Pam Marinello, an agent in the Clifton Park office. She is a Blue Star mom, which means she has a child serving in the military.
“Three times a year, we assemble care packages to send to our troops. All the items are donated and they are little pieces of home that the soldiers can’t get where they’re stationed. We include socks, canned tuna, card games, snacks, gummy bears,” she said. “So many of them are kids, after all.”
Marinello said it costs $13 to ship a package and they send 200 packages at a time.
“We do a lot to raise the money to send those packages, and we encourage people to become more involved in supporting the troops. Only about one percent of Americans volunteer to enter the military, and it is so important that we, as Americans, show them that we care.”
Blue Star Moms also support and provide fundraising for a host of other military-related nonprofits, including Wounded Warriors and Wreaths Across America.