Benchmark Senior Living 'Commits' 1,205th Act of Kindness with Donation to Waltham Council on Aging
Waltham MA (PRWEB) September 11, 2017 -- In June, Chairman and CEO Tom Grape challenged his Benchmark Senior Living employees to commit 1,000 “Radiant Acts of Kindness” in the neighborhoods and towns where the company’s 54 senior living communities are located.
“We asked each community to come up with at least 20 kind acts as a way of giving back locally in honor of Benchmark’s 20th anniversary,” Grape says. “And I offered to give one dollar to a good cause for every ‘Radiant Act’ they performed.”
In August, Grape honored his pledge by handing a check for $1,204 to Marybeth Duffy, director of the Waltham Council on Aging after Benchmark employees surpassed their goal by 204 acts of kindness.
Among the 1,204 acts of kindness committed across the seven states where there are Benchmark communities: leaving surprise treats at an animal shelter and buckets of tennis balls at a dog park; donating flip-flops to a domestic violence shelter for kids and parents; donating costumes to a church youth group; serving homeless families home-cooked meals; taping dollar bills inside greeting cards at a dollar store; surprising crossing guards, firefighters and police officers with free doughnuts and coffee; and mowing lawns for senior neighbors.
“An important value for Benchmark is showing kindness and being a good neighbor in every one of our communities, including our hometown of Waltham,” says Grape, who counts the donation to the council as the company’s 1,205th act of kindness.
“We are delighted to support the outreach of our good neighbors at the Waltham Council on Aging,” he says. “Director Duffy and her dedicated team, including longtime volunteers, make a difference every day and at every meal time for Waltham seniors needing assistance. On behalf of everyone at Benchmark, I was pleased to provide this gift to the benefit of our senior neighbors.”
About the Benchmark gift, Duffy says, “The Waltham Council on Aging has been fortunate to enjoy a good relationship with Benchmark Senior Living at Waltham Crossings and the Benchmark home office. We have a long history of working together on events for Waltham seniors. They have sponsored programs here at the senior center, including lunches and entertainment for our homebound seniors. We will use the funds for our Meals on Wheels program and for our seniors in financial need.”
About Benchmark Senior Living
Based in Waltham, Mass., Benchmark Senior Living is a leading provider of senior living services in the Northeast. Founded in 1997 by Tom Grape and celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2017, Benchmark operates 54 senior living communities offering independent living, assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. The company anticipates opening its first community in the state of New York, Whisper Woods at Smithtown, in 2018. Benchmark has been recognized by The Boston Globe, the Boston Business Journal, the Hartford Courant and the Hartford Journal as a top workplace, and by the Boston Business Journal and Providence Business News as one of the healthiest employers. Visit Benchmark at BenchmarkSeniorLiving.com.
Joyce Elven, Benchmark Senior Living, http://www.benchmarkseniorliving.com, 781-489-7100, [email protected]
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