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Super Community Coat Drive. It’s an effort created by Jersey Cares, the NY/NJ Super Bowl Host Committee, Wal-Mart and New York Cares. They collected and distributed more than 60,000 winter coats to families throughout New Jersey. Sixteen AVE team members recently completed the Corporate FunRun 5K North Jersey at the Meadowlands Racetrack to benefit Tackle Kids Cancer. “This made me so proud that so many team members showed up and wanted to participate—from maintenance to asset to resident services to sales to management,” Lea Anne says. “They understood it was such a good cause and they wanted to go out and be together to raise money for children’s cancer research and treatment.” Individual AVE team members also regularly participate in fundraisers including City to Shore MS Bike Ride, Blue Cross Broad Street Run, Susan G. Komen 3-Day Race for the Cure and the New York City Half Marathon. In addition to the six food drive parties AVE organized last September, the brand has seamlessly integrated Move for Hunger into its daily operations to regularly collect food for local food banks. “We have a captive audience. We have the team. We have the infrastructure,” Lea Anne explains. “We have the 32
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ability to promote saving food that would otherwise be thrown out and donating it to those who need it.” When an AVE resident provides his or her checkout notice, a team member reaches out to remind them about their partnership with Move for Hunger. A donation bag is delivered with their next housekeeping service. After a property collects 10 bags of food donations, they reach out to Move for Hunger to schedule a pickup. In New Jersey, Crown Relocation picks up the food and delivers it to Community Food Bank of New Jersey. As of print date, 2,000 pounds of food have been collected for the Salvation Army of West Chester, Community Food Bank of New Jersey and Heaven’s Helpers in Egg Harbor, New Jersey, providing 1,667 meals. Adam presented Lea Anne and Kim, who also serves as a board of advisor for the Meadowlands Regional Chamber, with the inaugural “Corporate Housing Provider of the Year” award at the annual Corporate Housing Providers Association (CHPA) conference in Texas in February. Move for Hunger is CHPA’s official charity. “AVE has always been really, really enthusiastic about our mission. They were one of the first corporate housing providers that got on board with our efAUGUST 2016
forts,” Adam says. “They’ve shown what it is to go above and beyond in partnering with an organization like ours. I admire their competitive spirit between the properties with food drives, and they’ve been really strong advocates in encouraging others within the industry to get involved as well.” This September, to raise awareness for Hunger Action Month, every AVE community will host resident events, with food, vendors and games reminiscent of carnivals and the Jersey Shore. The cost of admission is simply a food donation. AVE recently announced it broke ground on a new flexible-stay community in Florham Park, New Jersey with developer The Rockefeller Group, as well as a new flexible-stay community in The Village at Valley Forge in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. “As we continue to grow our real estate portfolio, it gives us the opportunity to impact more communities; it gives us the opportunity to touch more people,” Lea Anne says. “As we recruit and look for team members to join our brand, we’re looking for people who share our sense of community, and our sense of wanting to go above and beyond, not just for their own purpose, but for the purpose of the greater good.”