Fifty advisors and staff with Commonwealth Financial Network, attending a conference in town, recently participated in an afternoon of giving back at the Peace House shelter, making significant improvements to the residence and completing projects that had been postponed for years.
The shelter’s refurbishment was completed under the watchful eye of Bill McDermott, Commonwealth’s director of facilities. "Each time we visit a city where we hold a conference, we reach out and give back to that community," he explained.
"As soon as a conference is booked, our team begins inquiring for the names of area charities that might benefit from a large-scale effort. In this instance, Peace House was selected on the basis of size and need," McDermott added. The company’s donation to Peace House included supplies, equipment rental (a scissor lift was required to reach the front exterior rafters), and labor.
Launched several years ago, Commonwealth’s Giving Back program is funded by the charitable arm of the company, Commonwealth Cares. Past projects have included work at Tomorrow’s Rainbow, a center for grieving children in Coconut Beach, Florida, and at Barretstown, a camp in Ireland for terminally ill children. The list of projects Commonwealth has completed at various locations throughout the country is extensive, and Peace House is pleased to be a beneficiary of the company’s goodwill.
As the crew descended from a chartered bus, Commonwealth advisors and staff received instructions and volunteered for assignments. Some painted the shelter’s exterior, while others repaired and painted the backyard fence and installed new mulch in the garden beds.
A group was dispatched to the laundry room, which needed painting and a new floor. New storage shelves were built, the kitchen and back stairs were painted, and four Adirondack chairs were assembled for the back patio. With the addition of some small service tables, the chair grouping instantly increased the shelter’s dining capacity.
While the list of chores seemed endless, the group enthusiastically completed all tasks within the afternoon. Peace House Executive Director Jane Patten was emotional as she thanked the group for their hard work and gifts of time and ability, to which Commonwealth CEO Wayne Bloom responded, "We get more out of it than you do by one hundred times."
Peace House is a charitable organization dedicated to ending family violence and abuse in the community through education, outreach, support services, and shelter.