Bates In The Community
Bates Group is dedicated to giving back to the communities where we work and live by donating our time and talent. Below we highlight some of the contributions made by members of the Bates team:
Staff / Independent Industry Professional Anniversary Giving Update 2023
In honor of our staff and Independent Industry Professional anniversaries with Bates Group, the firm has continued its tradition of making donations throughout the year to a select group of nonprofit organizations. This year, we were able to donate over $2000 to our 2023 recipients:
Cure Alzheimer’s Fund
Semper Fi & America’s Fund
American Humane Society
Thank you to our wonderful staff and IIPs for letting Bates honor your efforts by supporting organizations making change in our communities and nationally.
Staff/Affiliate Anniversary Giving Update 2022
In honor of our staff and affiliate anniversaries with Bates Group, the firm has continued its tradition of making donations throughout the year to a select group of nonprofit organizations. This year, we were able to donate over $2000 to our 2022 recipients:
American Humane Society
Autism Science Foundation
American Farmland Trust
Thank you to our wonderful staff and affiliates for letting Bates honor your efforts by supporting organizations making change in our communities and nationally.
Staff/Affiliate Anniversary Giving Update 2021
In honor of our staff and affiliate anniversaries with Bates Group, the firm has continued its tradition of making donations throughout the year to a select group of nonprofit organizations. This year, we were able to donate nearly $2000 to our 2021 recipients:
The Humane Society of the United States
Oregon Parks Forever Wildfire Tree Replanting Fund
Native American Rights Fund (NARF)
National Alliance to End Homelessness
Thank you to our wonderful staff and affiliates for letting Bates honor your efforts by supporting organizations making change in our communities and nationally.
2021 Oregon to South Carolina Walkathon
After a successful inaugural event in 2020 “walking” from Portland to New York City, Bates staff participated in another fun and healthy activity to end 2021. We tracked our physical activity through November and December to “walk” the 2,707 miles from Portland to Spartanburg, South Carolina and connect with our newest team members on Bates Group’s MSB and Fintech Compliance team.
Through our combined efforts in walking, running, cycling, basketball, jazzercise, speed shopping, etc., we met our goal with a total of 2,800 miles! As part of this physical activity challenge, we are making an additional donation to The Humane Society of the United States.
Christmas 2021 – Rahab’s Sisters
Bates Practice Support Coordinator Tzotsy Ballesteros and friends donated their time over the Christmas holiday volunteering with the nonprofit group Rahab’s Sisters in Portland. They donated and wrapped gifts for their Christmas Eve outreach program—gifts included coats, socks, hats, bath and body items, toiletry bags and a holiday dessert.
From their website: “Rahab’s Sisters creates community through radical hospitality with those marginalized by poverty, houselessness, sex work, violence and substance use.” More info can be found at https://rahabs-sisters.org/about-us.
Bates Affiliate Expert William "Bill" Jannace
Bill Jannace has rolled up his sleeves and become involved in multiple projects benefiting students, World War II Veterans, and combating food insecurity.
“My family and I are completing the establishment of the 'Mary and Anthony E. Jannace Scholarship Fund' at the Fordham University School of Law in honor of my mother and in memory of my father as a tribute to the Greatest Generation. My father's paver was recently installed at The Chapel of the Four Chaplains.” shares Bill.
He has also participated in a project at the National World War II Museum spotlighting forgotten heroes, events, and battles. Most recently, former heavyweight boxing champions Joe Louis and James Braddock were honored in the museum along with humanitarians Oscar Schindler and Raoul Wallenberg.
Bill is a member of the Financial Services Volunteer Corps (FSVC), a not-for-profit organization that helps strengthen financial sectors in developing countries. His current project is working with USAID on a food security program in East Africa to help build commodities exchanges.
Greg Kyle Supports New Jersey Vaccination Effort
[published April 20, 2021]Bates Group Director Greg Kyle is an Emergency Medical Responder with the New Jersey Medical Reserve Corps. Greg has been volunteering 3 days a week at the Hudson County Drive-thru vaccination supersite in Kearny, NJ, administered by the Hudson Regional Health Commission. Their site has administered over 50,000 vaccinations to date. Way to go, Greg!
2020 Employee Anniversary Fundraiser
In 2020, Bates Group acknowledged the anniversaries of our staff and affiliates by making a donation in their name to one of four charitable organizations. We are proud to announce that we were able to make over $2000 in donations this year.
Our 2020 recipients were:
Service is one of Bates Group’s key principles—we are committed to serving our clients, employees, and community. Thanks to all staff and affiliates who participated in this annual fundraising project.
Snuggle Express - Oregon Humane Society
Bates Group was proud to sponsor a visit by the Oregon Humane Society's Snuggle Express on December 12th. Each Snuggle Express visit aims to share the joy of companion animals, brighten the day of employees, relieve holiday stress, and help socialize OHS shelter pets, many of whom are part of the Second Chance program. Since it was established in 1997, the OHS's Second Chance program has grown into a partnership with over 90 shelters and rescue groups all with the same goal in mind – to save lives! In 2018, more than 6,000 pets were adopted from Second Chance partner shelters in Oregon and Southern Washington. It was one of the highlights of our year to snuggle with these furry friends and support the work of the OHS.
More photos from our 2019 Snuggle Express
Susan Harper Honored Among “Outstanding Women in Law”
As founding Chair of the New York State Bar Association’s (NSYBA) Women and Law Section, Bates Group Managing Director Susan Harper was honored by Hofstra University Law School in April 2019 as an “Outstanding Woman in Law” for her work advancing women in the legal profession and in society. Susan has championed legislative and policy efforts to advance equal pay, state and federal constitutional equality, paid leave laws, domestic violence, and female prisoners’ rights. Earlier this year, on behalf of NYSBA, Susan testified in the New York State Legislature’s historic sexual harassment hearings, the first since 1992. In honor of New York State’s 100th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage in 2017 and the 100th Anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, Susan led the creation of a traveling suffrage exhibit on display throughout the New York Courts, along with a companion pamphlet, and has made presentations on suffrage and the achievement of legal rights to the judiciary, students, and the legal community.
2019 Pilsen Liberation Festival
Bates Expert Bill Jannace traveled to the Czech Republic in May to represent his family at the 2019 Liberation of Pilsen Festival, honoring the Second Infantry and Sixteenth Armored Divisions, as well as the French, Belgian and Czech soldiers that were involved. The liberation of Czechoslovakia by the Allied troops in May 1945 ended the European part of WWII, and on May 6, American soldiers entered the city of Pilsen. Bill's father, PFC Anthony E. Jannace, was among them. Every May since 1990, Pilsen celebrates that event with a Liberation Festival, where people from around the world celebrate with the Czech people for four days. Bill’s heartfelt letter to the people of Pilsen was published honoring the occasion. Read his remarks here.
CARE WOMEN'S NETWORK - NEW YORK
The CARE Women’s Network – New York Chapter (CWN-NY, formally known as CARE’s New York Women’s Initiative) started in 1998 to raise awareness and financial support for select CARE projects. Since their founding, they have contributed more than $2 million toward CARE’s global programs. Bates Expert Sheila Murphy is the CWN-NY Co-Chair, leading a group of passionate women committed to CARE's mission of saving lives, defeating poverty and achieving social justice. On a two-year basis, they select a project focused on empowering women and girls in developing countries, as well as advocate and educate on behalf of such programs. CWN-NY has supported such projects as reducing gender-based violence in Guatemala, educating and empowering girls in Ecuador, and an education project for middle school girls in Afghanistan. This year's committment is to improving the health care system for infants and their mothers in Bihar, India, which has saved already over 20,000 lives.
Jersey City Medical Center Ems Volunteer of the Year
Bates Group Director Greg Kyle is a certified Emergency Medical Responder as part of United Rescue, a community-based emergency medical services program run in conjunction with Jersey City Medical Center EMS in Jersey City, NJ. Both United Rescue and Greg were featured in a New York Post article after his successful response to a cardiac arrest call. Greg went on to receive the 2018 Volunteer of the Year award from Jersey City Medical Center EMS. Read our original post about Greg and United Rescue.
Bates Group 2018 Winter Food and Clothing Drive
This winter, Bates Group is hosting a food and clothing drive in partnership with the Sunshine Division, a year-round, direct emergency food and clothing provider in the Portland Metropolitan area. In operation for over 9 decades, Sunshine Division serves over 1,500 families every month through their front doors and also makes bulk donations of food to 15+ other food relief agencies in five Oregon counties. With the help of hundreds of volunteers, the Sunshine Division will pack and deliver over 3,800 Holiday Food Boxes this December. Many thanks to Bates HR Assistant Kaitlyn Messinger and Senior Associate Scott Halladin for their support with the donations.
Bates group 2018 Service project
This year, Bates has partnered with SARC Oregon to provide emergency recovery kits for sexual assault survivors. In operation since 1977, SARC (Sexual Assault Resource Center) provides free and confidential services to survivors of sexual assault which include support, counseling, and advocacy. Many thanks to Bates CEO Jennifer Stout and Office Manager Mike Eisenberg for arranging this year's service project and to all our staff who dedicated time and resources assembling and delivering the kits.
Clackamas County Special Olympics Update
Bates Group analyst David Jones has been a basketball and softball coach with Special Olympics Oregon in Clackamas County for many years. Due to budget shortfalls, there were no Oregon state games this year, but local teams still participated in scrimmage matches. Clackamas walked away with 2 wins in softball!
The Salvation Army Metropolitan Division
Bates Expert Lloyd Wennlund has been a member of the The Salvation Army Metropolitan Division advisory board for 7 years and is Chairman of the Development Committee. The Salvation Army Metropolitan Division serves communities in the Chicagoland, Northern Illinois and Northwest Indiana areas.
The Board enjoys lending their "time, talents and treasures" to do the most good for those less fortunate and in need in their communities.
Community Warehouse Dresser Project
Bates Group senior leadership came together on December 14th, 2017 to build household furniture for economically challenged individuals and families in transition with local nonprofit Community Warehouse's Dresser Project.
Dressers are consistently one of the most needed items at Community Warehouse and one of the top requests received from needy families. The Dresser Project is a program that raises funds for dressers while providing fun, engaging volunteer opportunities, ensuring enough dressers on hand to meet every family's needs. As we share in our photo link below, the project was a great team effort, full of smiles and laughs (yes, we learned that some of us are definitely handier then others), and a sense of great pride in our finished product of seven pieces of new furniture that we built together.
Community Warehouse is a local Portland nonprofit “furniture bank” which collects and redistributes donated furniture and household goods to neighbors in need. Community Warehouse is the main resource for low income individuals and families in NW Oregon and SW Washington seeking essential household furnishings. It coordinates distribution through a network of more than 200 social service agencies and engages a staff of 25 in addition to 180 active volunteers.
United Rescue
Bates Group Director Greg Kyle was recently certified as an Emergency Medical Responder as part of a community-based emergency medical services program new to the U.S. United Rescue in Jersey City, NJ is the first of its kind in this country, and is run in conjunction with Jersey City Medical Center EMS. It is based on the very successful United Hatzalah program in Israel (Hatzalah is Hebrew for Rescue).
With ambulance arrival times averaging 11 minutes in many U.S. cities, the goal of the program is to build a community of volunteer EMRs who can quickly respond to critical incidents in their immediate vicinity, when every second matters. In Israel, United Hatzalah has significantly reduced response times to less than 3 minutes, providing the critical pre-ambulatory care needed to stabilize victims until they can be transported to hospitals. The goal of United Rescue is to replicate that rapid, 3-minutes-or-less response time across the U.S.
Greg went through over 100 hours of training including classroom time, skills-building sessions and clinical shifts on ambulances in order to be certified to provide emergency care in his community. He is looking forward to being an active volunteer with United Rescue and doing all he can do to save lives and provide essential, critical care for those in need.
Friends of Family Farmers
Bates Associate Jessica Ahola has been volunteering with Oregon-based Friends of Family Farmers for several years. The nonprofit brings together farmers and citizens to shape and support socially and environmentally responsible family-scale agriculture in Oregon. They have a number of different programs to support existing family farmers, eaters and aspiring farmers. These programs range from actively participating in legislative changes that may impact small scale farms, monthly education events for eaters on food production called InFarmation, a land-link program to help new farmers access land for farming and hosting purchasing events to connect farmers with people wanting to purchase local food.
Jessica feels it is important for people to understand where their food comes from. It’s easy to get your food from a grocery store and forget about the hard working people growing that food behind the scenes. Additionally, the average age of Oregon farmers has topped the national average for the last few years. With the average age of farmers approaching 60, it’s important to encourage and support new farmers who want to enter the field so this important public service and economic industry is not lost.
Purchasing your food from a local, small-scale family farm is a great way to support your local community, economy and the environment. Jessica helps Friends of Family Farmers at their events wherever she can including setup and take-down, manning tables to answer questions about local food, helping people load heavy vegetables, waiting tables at farm-to-table fundraising dinners and of course purchasing great food from local farmers.
Clackamas County Special Olympics
Bates Group analyst David Jones has been a coach with Special Olympics Oregon in Clackamas County for many years. Special Olympics provides year round sports training and athletic competition for people living with intellectual disabilities of all ages and skill levels. Competition provides athletes with opportunities to develop physical fitness, create friendships, and interact with the community. Serving as a coach is not just about teaching a sport, but also helping athletes learn life skills and grow as individuals.
David’s younger brother, Derrick, has been an athlete for 25 years. Both of their parents have also served as coaches in the past, so Special Olympics is a family activity as well as a charitable one. Currently, David is an assistant coach for his brother’s basketball and softball teams. Their team won a bronze medal in Softball during the 2016 spring games in Newburg, OR, and the 2016 basketball team (pictured below) won silver.