In OC, Philanthropy Toward Vets is Alive and Well

Admiral Mike Mullen addresses the crowd of commercial real estate professionals at the charity event.

COSTA MESA, CA—The return of the Orange County Real Estate Luncheon, underwritten by Donahue Schriber, with GlobeSt.com as exclusive media sponsor, netted $560,000 from 450 attendees toward OC-based veterans’ charities aimed at providing health, education and employment to those who’ve served in the military. The event, which took place at the Westin South Coast Plaza here last Thursday, represented the kickoff to the Orange County real estate community’s commitment to the Orange County Community Foundation’s Veterans Initiative, whose mission is to provide assistance to veterans as they transition from military service to the civilian community.

As Pat Donahue, CEO and chairman of Donahue Schriber, told GlobeSt.com in March, “The Veterans’ Initiative came to Ranney [Draper of Diversified Shopping Centers] and me and talked to us about their program. They had embarked on a study with USC’s graduate school on the state of veterans’ affairs in Orange County and found that there were 130,000 veterans living in Orange County, and our services to them are substandard. This is one of the wealthiest places in the world, and we are not taking care of the people who are protecting our freedoms—this is not a very good indictment. Orange County Community Foundation became our non-profit. It’s a donor-advised fund, and we’re going to form a selection committee to decide where the money goes.”