At Heritage Financial, helping clients identify where charitable contributions fit within their overall financial plan is just part of our day-to-day. But our views on giving back go well beyond discussions on annual limits and deductions.
The mission statement of our firm is:
To make a positive and lasting financial impact on the people in our lives and those we serve
With our offices located in Westwood and Woburn, Massachusetts, we have ample opportunity to serve these local communities in a variety of ways. Keep reading to learn about the Heritage Charitable Fund and several important organizations we’ve been supporting.
In 2010, Heritage Financial established the Heritage Charitable Fund. The main goal was to benefit a multitude of organizations and people in our local community and beyond.
Each year a percentage of our firm’s profits is contributed to the fund
As our firm continues to grow, so do the contributions into the charitable fund. We are very proud to say that in the past three years we’ve donated to 35 different charitable organizations.
We look to our staff and clients for help in identifying the organizations we support. To encourage ideas from our staff, we created an employee charitable matching program. The firm makes matching contributions up to $100 to any charity, or charities, an employee chooses.
We also hear about amazing charities from our clients. And we try our best to meet as many of their donation requests as possible.
The goal is to continue to grow the size of this fund so we can continue to increase the amount we can grant each year.
People Power
Making monetary donations is only one aspect of how our firm gives back. Just as important and needed is the donation of time and people power. Our staff loves to physically get involved and see the direct impacts of their work.
One of our favorite hands-on experiences is hosting an annual cookout at the Boston Children’s Hospital Yawkey House in Boston. Our staff spends an afternoon cooking and serving guests of the House. This seemingly simple contribution provides a brief sense of normalcy to families that spend most of their days with a loved one in the hospital.
On several occasions we’ve taken a team of people to work with My Brother’s Keeper, a Christian ministry that delivers food and furniture to families in need.
We’ve also sent several teams of people to the “Giving Factory Warehouse” at Cradles to Crayons. This is an important organization that delivers necessities to children living in poverty. Our staff spends time inspecting, sorting, and packaging the various donated children’s items.
The holiday season always creates additional opportunities to give back
We’ve created a tradition at Heritage to work in coordination with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families each year to anonymously shop and purchase gifts around the holidays.
And this past year, our staff overwhelmingly supported the Bags of Hope New England charity from the recommendation of a staff member. Bags of Hope works to replace the trash bags that foster children use when they’re moving in and out of homes with a personalized duffle bag full of necessities. The majority of our staff made a charitable donation to support this cause.
We weren’t able to participate in as many personal volunteer experiences over the last year and a half. But are hopeful this is on the cusp of change. And we can’t wait to get back out to give back in person.
As a thriving wealth management business in the Westwood and Woburn suburbs of Massachusetts, we believe our responsibility goes beyond the duty we have to our clients and employees. It also reaches across the communities we serve. We look forward to continuing to grow the Heritage Charitable Fund and the reach of our generous employees.