In the Community

Making a difference in the community is a longstanding corporate commitment, which Co-CEOs Gail Bassin and Jerri Shaw epitomize with their own community activities.

In 1999, Gail and her family turned a family tragedy into a philanthropic cause by founding The Heart’s Delight, an annual event that has raised more than $7 million for the American Heart Association. More than 20 years ago, Gail and her family established the California Futures Barrel Tasting, an annual event that raises funds to support cancer research for the George Washington University Medical School. More recently, Gail was named to the Advisory Board for the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Jerri's volunteer work focuses on programs, national and international, that seek to improve the health and well-being of people. She has helped establish and continues to work with organizations that seek to stabilize population growth while strengthening the role of women, including The Population Institute (where she is a Board member) and the Population Media Center (where she is a Special Advisor). Since 1998, Jerri has been a speaker for Compassion and Choices, an organization dedicated to promoting quality of life at the end of life. She is the board secretary for the Alcohol and Drug Problems Association of North America and actively supports children's programs in Central America.

Corporate Community Support
JBS strives to be a good citizen in the communities where our offices are based. Our recent community contributions include:

• Valentine’s Day 2008
  Each year, employees at JBS headquarters collect toiletries to donate to the residents at N Street Village in Washington, DC, an organization that offers shelter; health, social, educational, and training services; and affordable rental housing.
  
  In California, Burlingame staff hold lunchtime fundraisers to purchase gift cards and collect personal items for CORA (Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse), a nonprofit organization assisting adult and child victims of domestic violence/abuse in San Mateo County.

• Holiday Toy Drives
  Toys collected by our Maryland staff are donated to New Expectations, a program that serves homeless pregnant and postpartum drug- and alcohol-dependent women and their infants, and New Generations, which donates to children from pre-kindergarten through high school. Both programs got their start from New Endeavors by Women, which addresses challenges faced by homeless women. Our Burlingame staff donates new toys to Samaritan House in San Mateo.

• Special Events
  In April 2007, JBS raised more than $1,100 during National Library Week to go toward the New Orleans Public Libraries restoration from damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.

	JBS Employees in the Community Because of what we do and our corporate culture, JBS attracts employees with strong commitments to their communities and the issues they care about. Here are a few examples: Adrian Burnim (North Bethesda) has mentored youths for 4 years, and is currently mentoring an 18-year-old man. He is active in his church and coaches basketball for 8- to 12-year-olds. In addition, Adrian is the executive director of Beat The Streets Youth Outreach Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit organization founded in 2004 to provide comprehensive youth development services for at-risk boys and young men. Adrian has conducted youth worker trainings, has hosted recreational events (field days with relay races and scavenger hunts) for more than 120 youths in the Gaithersburg, MD, community, and routinely gives inspirational talks at meetings of community groups. Adrian is currently developing a comprehensive mentoring program in conjunction with the First A.M.E. Church of Gaithersburg. Al Esguerra (Vienna) is a volunteer musician with the Washington Balalaika Society Orchestra, which tries to share the music of Russia and Eastern Europe with the Greater Washington community. Al plays the “domra”—a kind of Russian mandolin with only 4 strings that are tuned like those of the violin—with the Washington Balalaika Society Orchestra. From 1986 to 2006, he played violin as a volunteer musician with the McLean Orchestra. Over the years, having come from the Philippines, he has seen for himself why they say music is the universal language and why it is a basic element for cultural exchange and understanding. Robyn Reilford (Burlingame) volunteers her time at Tax-Aid, Inc., located in San Francisco, CA. This nonprofit organization, founded in 1988 by a coalition of accountants and lawyers, provides free high-quality tax return preparation for Bay Area families with incomes less than $42,000. In 2007, Tax-Aid prepared 3,077 returns. These taxpayers received more than $2,978,044. Some refunds were as high as $4,500. In total, Tax-Aid coordinates 68 free tax preparation programs. In 2007, these combined campaigns served 12,376 clients, who received $11,927,240 in Federal and State refunds.