NAIOP Maryland Developing Leaders Invest Afternoon At Baltimore Collaborative Warehouse

Approximately 40 members of the NAIOP Maryland Developing Leaders (DL) program, consisting of professionals 35 years of age and under, spend a recent afternoon at the Baltimore Collaborative Warehouse, which houses six local non-profit organizations including the Maryland Book Bank, Break a Difference, ShareBaby, Level the Playing Field and School Colors. The 114,000 square foot warehouse, which overlooks the Jones Falls Expressway in the Woodberry section of Baltimore City, is located at 1790 Union Avenue.

Groups of Developing Leaders fanned out in a chilly warehouse to sort books at the Maryland Food Bank, sort clothing at Break a Difference and handle an assortment of other maintenance and repair activities including demolishing old pallet skids and disassembling metal shelving. The participants began the day by enjoying a pizza lunch courtesy of Merritt Properties and ended the program by making a contribution to the Maryland Book Bank. The donation, according to the non-profit, will fund two separate book drives and distribute approximately 10,000 books to area residents.

DL Chairman Spencer Perry, BB&T (center) explained that the group invests time twice annually to support the needs of local non-profit groups in its Community Service Day activity. “Our goal is to make a meaningful difference with activities such as these and believe that, when starting volunteer efforts at a relatively young age, you set the precedent for a lifetime of giving back to the community.” He is pictured with Mark Feiring, Executive Director of the Maryland Book Bank and Kim Crout, Program Director, Maryland Book Bank.

The Maryland Book Bank distributes more than 420,000 books to area students, families and schools on an annual basis, and will soon reach the milestone of one million books delivered to the local community. The program is self-funded with all books donated by individuals, book sellers and businesses. “With only a handful of full-time employees, we depend on volunteers to complete our mission to serve the needs of the local community,” stated Mark Feiring, Executive Director of the Maryland Book Bank.

The NAIOP Maryland DL group consists of more than 100 members and is part of NAIOP Maryland commercial real estate association which has more than 450 members.