To thank everyone for their support, Planned鈥檚 Human Resources department treated the team to pink-frosted cupcakes and coffee in the breakroom.

As of October 23^rd, we are proud to announce that we have raised over $200. All donations will go directly to the Susan G. Komen foundation.

To learn more on Susan G. Komen鈥檚 mission, vision and goals, we encourage you to visit their website:

Again, thank you to all for your donations!

The spread was delicious, featuring hot wraps, French toast, eggs, bacon and orange juice. As associates gathered to enjoy breakfast, our CEO Robert Francis stood amongst the team and said a few words:

鈥淲hen we take the time to get together as a team, especially to get to know one another at a deeper level in another setting, it is time well spent.  Our Mother鈥檚 Day breakfast, just like our upcoming Father鈥檚 Day event, allows for our team to recognize that we have families and friends who value us just as much as our business colleagues.鈥�

We are proud to announce that because of the event, we were able to raise over $216 through a 50/50 raffle. $108 dollars was matched by the company and graciously donated to our Employee Relief Fund.

Employees from Planned鈥檚 corporate office and associates out in the field gathered at Mayfair Farms in West Orange, NJ on Thursday April 18^th for our annual Spring Town Hall. Keeping with traditions of the past, activities centered on giving back to the community. For our NJ/PA and Mid-Atlantic regions, associates participated in a Build-A-Bear workshop designed to aid the Child Rescue Coalition. ()

“Another incredible day in the Planned journey.  We built Rescue Bears for responders to ease the anxiety and fear for children being removed from hostile environments.  Our teams in the northeast and mid-Atlantic came together to make our small difference.  On the West Coast, we proudly Green cleaned an elementary school.  And throughout the day, we realized how fortunate we are at Planned to work together and make a difference together.”  said Robert Francis, President & CEO, Planned Companies. 

For Planned, giving back to charity is always at the forefront. Every year holds new opportunities to learn, grow and most importantly, serve. Here at Planned, we make it a priority to not only deliver exceptional customer service, but also find ways to give back to our communities and charities throughout the US.

#FirstServeOthers Benefits the Northern Virginia Ecosystem

Our very own Margaret Bicz, Director of Business Development for our D.C. region, was out helping her local community on Saturday, April 13^th. The event, lead in conjunction with the Washington Metropolitan Chapter of the Community Associations Institute (WMCCAI), is designed to clean up the area鈥檚 watershed, which is fed by a maze of tributaries. Cleaning the debris helps keep water flowing and the eco system working naturally.

Margaret volunteered herself as site leader for the project. 鈥淭he plastic bags were a real issue,鈥� said Margaret. 鈥淭hey would become encased around logs creating a log-jam. When removed, you could immediately see the water begin flowing again.鈥� The project supported the Alice Ferguson Foundation which you can read more on here: (https://fergusonfoundation.org) .

鈥淲hen we were finished, there was not a single piece of debris along the mile-long creek we cleaned,鈥� Margaret added. 鈥淭his was truly a rewarding experience.鈥�

As many of you may know, February is National Heart Month in the United States. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease is currently the leading cause of death in the United States. The American Heart Association is dedicating their mission to helping Americans live a long and healthy life by providing access to educational events in local areas, top Doctors in your state, and spreading awareness to a growing number of heart-related topics through the media.

Learn more on how you can raise awareness for National Heart Month by visiting

While our competitive side may have felt the loss in the games, we know that our time and efforts went to a great cause and a grateful to participate in the event. Learn more about how you can help raise awareness for Crohn’s and Colitis by visiting .

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The Dunk Tank

During the highlighted part of the day, we had a dunk tank set up in which a few of our team members (including Rob Francis, our CEO, Dino Iuliano, our CRO and Danny Reilly, Director of Business Development for NJ/PA, and more!) volunteered to sit and get dunked in water for 30 minutes each. We collected 1.00 dollar per baseball thrown from any associates. Overall, we collected over $260.00 to put toward our Employee Relief Fund!

Big thanks to everyone in our culture committee as they planned an outstanding event. Thanks to everyone who came out and joined in on the fun. 听Also, our biggest thanks go to all of our employees for all of your hard work on a day-to-day basis and for always showing up and making a difference!

April 19^th 鈥� Mid-Atlantic Region (based in Alexandria, VA)

Here is a message from Reuel Williams, our VP of Operations for Mid-Atlantic sharing how their day went.

鈥�Mid-Atlantic Team,

I wanted to express my appreciation and admiration for you all. You鈥檙e an awesome group of people and I鈥檓 humbled and proud to have the privilege to work alongside you all.

Thank you so much for your open hands and hearts today during our service day. I truly believe that the sacrifices we made and the work we performed at the Ronald McDonald House today was impactful and made a true difference. We really showed them what Planned is all about. The Planned Way shined bright today.鈥�

听

April 25^th 鈥� San Francisco Region

Here鈥檚 what was shared by our Director of Business Development for San Francisco, John Fahmy.

鈥�Today the team had an awesome day at Covenant House in Oakland CA.

Covenant House helps children between the ages of 18-24 who are homeless and help them get back on their feet. This is often after leaving the foster care program at 18. They help with job assistance, career counseling, budgeting and health assistance. They house 40 youth and have a wellness center that is open daily from 9 AM to 2 PM for any youth that needs help or a place to be safe.

Our team provided window cleaning (inside and out), carpet cleaning of the library and hallways, and general cleaning of common areas. We also provided pizza for the youth and staff. We enjoyed a nice lunch and got to chat with some of the youth and played basketball after. I will be honest, Planned CA definitely needs to work on their basketball skills.

Overall, a great day and humbling experience.鈥�

听

April 26^th 鈥� Atlanta Region

Updates from JJ Chaves, our VP of Sales and Operations for Atlanta

鈥淚鈥檓 super excited to be participating WITH MY HOURLY ASSOCIATES!

We will be working as Grocery Floor Assistants at the Atlanta Community Food Bank from 7:30am to 10:30am.

I鈥檓 proud to involve my team here in Atlanta and their willingness to participate in this important initiative.鈥�

听

April 26^th 鈥� Northeast Region (including NJ, NY, CT, MA)

For our Northeast Region, the team gathered in Parsippany, NJ, for a team building activity that led to donations to the Innerfaith Food Pantry. This food bank is a community of neighbors helping neighbors who are committed to ending hunger and supporting self-sufficiency. The Planned group was split into multiple teams and were instructed to build a mini golf course made from canned and boxed food. After they completed this task, they had to visit each of the mini golf courses that other teams have built and had to putt a hole-in-one for each course. They then voted on who鈥檚 course was the most creatively built. Later, we helped box up all of the food while the local food bank pulled up with trucks to take donated food back to their organization to be shipped and distributed to locations that they support. You can learn more about the Innerfaith Food Pantry at

“Proud of the spirit and difference that the Planned team made last week. 听Our time and energy was well spent both giving back to the community while getting to enhance the communication and collaboration of our team. 听When you give, you get.” – Rob Francis, President & CEO

We hope that these Service Day stories encourage everyone to continue to give back, whether its within your organization or a personal effort! #PlannedCares

More photos at

We recognize that many of our associates across our company face personal hardships daily.听The purpose of the Employee Relief Fund is to offer all associates the opportunity to give and receive a financial gift in times of need. The Employee Relief Fund relies on individual donations from us and other FirstService Brands and their employees.

Congratulations to Catherine Bruno and Adriatic Cobaj for being our first-place champions! More photos can be found on our Facebook page .

Gene volunteers at the Washington Crossing National Cemetery in Newton PA every Monday from 8:30 AM to about 3:30 PM. He is part of a group called the Guardians of the Washington Crossing National Cemetery which renders military honors. This involves three volleys of rifle fire followed by the playing of taps and presentation of a burial flag if the military branch is not present.

The group began its mission on January 20^th of 2010. Regardless of the weather, they have not missed a funeral! There have been over 10,000 veterans who have been given military honors throughout that time.

While Planned Companies is consistently giving back to the communities we service, it鈥檚 individuals like Gene who really set the bar even higher with volunteering activities such as the ones discussed above. Thank you, Gene, for your efforts. We hope your story inspires and encourages others to give back in their own way. Keep up the great work!

Love your Melon

Liz currently buys Love Your Melon hats not just for herself but also as gifts for others as well. Love Your Melon is an apparel brand that gives a hat to children battling cancer in America. They are the organization that leads the fight against pediatric cancer. Learn more on how you can buy a hat and help support the cause by visiting .

Care Package

Another act of giving back that Liz has shared involves helping her son鈥檚 friend by sending him a care package after he was recently deployed to Kuwait in December. This Care package included a box of puzzle books, toiletries like tooth paste and shampoo, and junk food such as potato chips chocolate and candy!

MetLife

One of Liz鈥檚 friends who works at with her at MetLife Stadium had recently shared that his mother had gone through a terrible accident and broke her back. During the holidays, Liz made a lasagna for her friend and his mom and dad. This helped the family tremendously so that they didn鈥檛 need to travel anywhere to buy their meal. Liz also included sparkling apple cider, salad, a cookie tray and meat balls. The family was grateful for Liz鈥檚 efforts and kindness.

This goes to show that simply donating large amounts of money is not the only way one can support a cause and give back to their communities. There are lots of ways in which an individual can give. It鈥檚 not about the one-time donation fee or the single positive act of kindness. What really shows is a person鈥檚 consistent action toward giving and helping others. Way to go, Liz. Keep up the great work!

What does Mentorship mean to you?

鈥淢entorship means being genuinely caring and investing the time and energy to educate, empower and inspire a colleague, family member or friend.鈥�

How important is it to mentor others?

鈥淚t is vital to share lessons learned and best practices – regardless of title or experience – as we all learn and grow from one another.鈥�

Who has been a mentor and a major influence in your life?

鈥淢y grandfather was a mentor and influence on my life, as well as my parents. 听Their word is their bond and we were known for napkin deals at a time when all the paperwork wasn鈥檛 needed.鈥�

If you could choose any one person in the world to be your personal mentor for a day, who would it be and why?

鈥淕reat question! 听I would love to spend the day with Tony Hsieh – CEO of Zappos – who has admirably built a company that has a passionate culture and that separates itself from the pack.鈥�

While Rob and other Planned members continue to mentor and guide others, we encourage you to do the same! As a reminder, International Mentoring Day is January 17^th, 2018. Learn more about National Mentoring Month at www.mentoring.org.

Earlier this month, we announced our involvement for Toys for Tots. We talked about the detailed planning and effort that goes into it with our team. We鈥檙e excited to share that we collected over 2,300 toys total! We couldn鈥檛 have done it without our team members that were involved as well as our clients that participated in the program as well. Thank you to Riva Pointe, Palisades, Royal Buckingham and Parker Imperial. We appreciate your help spreading our message and opening your doors as a place to collect toys for this wonderful program.

If you missed the opportunity to participate, visit 听to learn more on how you can give back!

Who is Romulo Reynoso?

Romulo is a former Marine who served from 2001 to 2006. During his time in the Marines, he was also involved with Toys for Tots. Since then, he has had the opportunity to continue volunteering within Planned.

What鈥檚 the process look like?

Every November, Romulo logs into the Toys for Tots site to requests boxes for several of our locations. He then stops by Picatinny Arsenal to pick up the posters and boxes and coordinates with the Operations team to help distribute those boxes. Keep in mind that our efforts with Toys for Tots doesn鈥檛 just occur within Planned – we have several clients that volunteer their property as a place to host one of these boxes. Everyone receives a set date and begins promoting and collecting toys for their community. Every year, they manage to collect anywhere from 1000 to 5000 toys. 鈥淥ne year, I had to rent a U-Haul truck to deliver all the toys we had collected. Every year gets bigger and bigger.鈥� says Romulo.鈥�

Continuing to Give

Not only does Romulo coordinate the Toys for Tots program here at Planned, he also gives back within his own community in Washington Heights as well. For the past 2 years, he collects food and toys to pass out to the homeless around the area. Romulo pointed out, 鈥淕iving back has always been important to me and with all my involvement with Toys for Tots, it has inspired me to help those in need in my local area as well. There is always more room to give.鈥�

We鈥檙e grateful to have Romulo as part of the Planned family. His efforts on and off the clock speak volumes and continue to inspire everyone around him. Also, thank you to everyone who continues to help us with our efforts through the years. We look forward to making this year our most successful year yet!

Thank you to everyone who participated and donated. To learn more on how you can help save lives and raise awareness, visit .

See more photos on our .

While the competition was fierce, Planned found themselves in the finals of what was an extravagant day of football. At one point, the Seattle Seahawks, who were the visiting team preparing to play the Giants that Sunday, came onto the field for practice and was able to watch a tremendous touchdown play by a member of our team. In the end, our opponents ended up winning the competition. While we didn鈥檛 take first place on the day, we were all still winners by helping raise money and awareness for such a powerful cause.

We鈥檇 like to thank the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, the refs and all the teams and friends that participated in the event. Learn more about how you help combat Crohn’s and Colitis at 

On July 13th, Planned Companies鈥� Culture Committee hosted our first Planned Charity Poker Tournament! We split everyone into two tournaments, the 鈥渂eginners鈥� game and the 鈥淧layers鈥� game. A few of the selected charities include , St Jude鈥檚, Autism Spectrum Disorder Foundation, Crohn’s and Colitis foundation, Sloan Kettering and more!

As the dust settled and the tables cleared out, we had our winners. Congratulations to Chrisptin Hulse, Operations Manager for NJ and Charles Cronk (with Rob鈥檚 chips), Executive Director for Southern NJ/Philadelphia Region, for splitting first place in the 鈥淧layers鈥� game. Congratulations to Stacey Almonte, Operations Assistant for PBS, and Ugo Bellomo, Operations Manager for Northern NJ for splitting the beginners game!

For those who were present at our main HQ, we had the opportunity to work together to build several bicycles. We then donated the bicycles to a group of children from a local Boys and Girls club. Seeing their faces light up with joy completely made our day.

Our photo album can be viewed at:听

Noticing the car had been turned sideways and hearing calls for aid from the car, Martinez jumped atop the vehicle and began attempts to open the car door to pull the driver out safely. With the impact of the car鈥檚 sideways fall, however, the door would not yet budge enough to pull the driver out. Flores, without hesitation, rushed in to lend a hand. He was able to get the door open just barely enough to squeeze the driver out safely. Meanwhile, Benavidez received the injured driver and rushed him away from the car to safety. With the car engulfed in growing flames from the crash, Funez retrieved the fire extinguisher to put out the flames. Just minutes after the driver was rescued, the flames had become too large to put out, and the car exploded.

When emergency personnel arrived at the scene, the driver was in shock, but conscious. They escorted him to the hospital where he has since been released in stable condition. The fire chief informed all in presence that these brave men were heroes. Had they not acted swiftly and courageously as they had, the driver would have certainly been dead within the next two minutes.

Today we are extremely humbled and honored to be able to once again, award recognition to our exceptional employees – 听Rodrigo Martinez, Jose Benavidez, German Flores and Tomas Funez – who will now forever be remembered as heroes of Parkmerced.

*Pictured above, Rodrigo Martinez and German Flores pose as heroes while discussing the event. To the right, a picture of the firemen who rushed to extinguish the flames, after the car erupted in explosion.

This incredible story originally came to light when numerous residents wrote in to the operations manager of Galaxy Towers, ecstatic at what they had just witnessed. Tasha, one of the residents at the Galaxy Towers wrote in, 鈥淚t took the ambulance about 25 minutes to get to the Galaxy 鈥� if Juleen hadn鈥檛 worked that night that young man would鈥檝e died.鈥� She concluded her statement expressing her gratitude for Juleen鈥檚 actions with, 鈥淚 can honestly say I feel even more safe now living at the Galaxy.鈥�

Christina Morillo, another resident who witnessed the heroics mentioned, 鈥淭he other day as I was entering the building there was an unfortunate health incident with a man in the lobby. He suffered an apparent seizure鈥� what I did see was a staff that went right into action to try and help this man.鈥� She went on to state, 鈥淚 particularly want to mention Juleen who tried her best to take manage the situation and performed CPR. I think she did an amazing job and should be acknowledged for going above and beyond her call of duty. The staff in Tower 3 are all that way. They make this huge building feel like a community, a home.鈥�

A third testimonial was sent in to us by Rhadaysis Castro, owner of Tower 3 apartment 8M. As someone who themselves suffers from disabilities affecting the heart and who recently suffered a stroke, Rhadaysis wrote, 鈥淚 was totally impressed when I witnessed Ms. Steed鈥檚 heroic and quick action which saved a resident鈥檚 life yesterday February 1^st. It was a smart decision to hire as doorman, a person with paramedic experience and expertise who can administer lifesaving procedures in such a swift manner. Yesterday鈥檚 incident affirmed why I feel so good living at the Galaxy. The respectful and kind gestures exhibited by Juleen on a daily basis, are extraordinary and are a reflection of your management standards.鈥� Rhadaysis went on to note, 鈥淭hat person could have been me or anybody at the Galaxy. This story is good enough for the news!鈥�

The heroic actions of Juleen Steed may not have made headline news on your television set, but it most certainly will be commemorated here. We cannot say enough good things about the events that transpired that Wednesday afternoon. Juleen鈥檚 actions were swift, heroic, self-less, but perhaps most importantly, life-saving. When Juleen originally applied for a position as concierge through us, no one would ever think that a short time later, she would be recognized as a hero.听 Juleen stands as a testament to the thorough screening and selection process we pride ourselves on for each employee selected for our clients鈥� services. Again, a big thank you from all of us here at Planned Companies for going above and beyond and becoming a genuine life-saver for everyone at the Galaxy Towers!

*image courtesy of images.google.com