Baird & Warner gives time, money to area charities

Baird & Warner, Illinois' largest family-owned, independent real estate services company, recently announced ramped-up philanthropic efforts through its Good Will Network charitable arm raised $244,000 for Chicago area nonprofits and donated thousands of hours of volunteer time over the past year.

This was a 22% increase over 2018 donations.

"Baird & Warner is passionate about the Chicago-area communities we serve, and we believe making a positive difference in the lives of people is an important part of being good stewards," said Jennifer Alter Warden, COO of Baird & Warner.

"With our recent Month of Matching, we ended 2019 on a high note by making it even easier for our agents to help make the neighborhoods where they live and work a better place by giving them the flexibility of choosing to donate funds or volunteer at their favorite charity - either of which would be matched by the Good Will Network."

Launched in 2018, the Good Will Network's Month of Matching fundraising event takes place toward the end of the year and raises thousands of dollars as the firm matches every financial contribution donated by its agents.

New for 2019, staff could volunteer their time and Baird & Warner would convert that into a monetary donation at a rate of $50 per hour, up to 10 hours. For example, if a team member volunteered for six hours at a nonprofit, Baird & Warner would donate $300 to that organization.

In total, the 2019 Month of Matching raised almost $70,000, generating critical support for 85 different nonprofit organizations.

In addition to these collective volunteer efforts, individual Baird & Warner neighborhood offices also gave grants to local organizations; organized fundraisers, auctions and drives; and sponsored toys, food and clothing collections.

Key highlights of the Good Will Network's impact in 2019 include:

•More than 70 volunteers from across Baird & Warner joined together with the Trust for Public Land, an organization that creates parks and protects land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come. They removed weeds and spread mulch at Chicago's Douglas Park to help beautify the grounds and pave the way for renovation of a park district miniature golf course.

• Through its annual $24K of Solid Good grant program, a total of $120,000, or $24,000 each, was awarded to five winning nonprofits based on their innovative programs to provide shelter and services for homeless populations in neighborhoods across the Chicago area. The winning nonprofits were:

Community Partners for Affordable Housing, which provides permanently affordable housing, both ownership and rental, for those who struggle to meet their basic human need of housing. The organization serves the suburbs of northern Cook, Lake and McHenry counties.

Connections for the Homeless works to end homelessness one person at a time through prevention, shelter and housing. Connections for the Homeless serves north suburban Cook County.

Mooseheart Child City and School educates children, teens and young adults in need on a 1,000-acre campus in Kane County. Mooseheart serves children from birth through 21 years old, currently from 26 states.

Realtors Against Homelessness supports the growing number of homeless students in the suburbs. Realtors Against Homelessness serves the Northwest suburbs of Chicago, including Palatine, Schaumburg and Hoffman Estates.

StandUp For Kids raises community awareness and works to bring an end to youth homelessness. The organization serves Chicago's South and West sides.

Since creating The Good Will Network in 2002, Baird & Warner has donated nearly $3 million to Chicago area nonprofits focusing on housing-related causes.

In 2015, the firm expanded its efforts with a volunteer time-off program to give employees more opportunity to give back in their communities. To date, approximately 2,000 volunteer time-off hours have been logged by the Baird & Warner team.

For information on Baird & Warner, visit BairdWarner.com.

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