Alair Townsend praises the Brooklyn Bureau's work

(The following is the text of Ms. Townsend's opening remarks.)

Good evening. I am Alair Townsend. It is a joy to welcome each of you to this celebration. Tonight we applaud the Brooklyn Bureau for its 137 years of outstanding service to New York City.

We salute two outstanding business and civic leaders: Art Certosimo, Executive Vice President of the Bank of New York...and Allen Clark, Senior Vice President of JP Morgan Chase.

Al and Art oversee the entire range of broker dealer services for their companies. All U.S. government and agency securities are cleared and settled through their institutions. These are very big jobs at two of the leading financial services firms in the world. These are people with big jobs...and big hearts.

Art and Al, you honor us with your association, and we are deeply grateful to you for giving your support and commitment to the Brooklyn Bureau. Thank you so much.

To me, this is a wonderful, uniquely American gathering for a uniquely American tradition. Not-for-profit organizations and voluntary associations are really an American invention. Ever since we started to think of ourselves as a people, several hundred years ago, we began to come together to assist people in need, to provide medical care to the ill, to bring companionship to the neglected and to help struggling people get back on their feet.

Over the years, informal mechanisms were replaced by organizations supported by private individuals and businesses and sometimes government. Together, the web of hospitals, social service agencies, training organizations and the like provide an infrastructure of caring that is utterly remarkable. It is something we should all take pride in.

Think of how individuals, businesses and organizations responded to the devastation of September 11. At that time there was a remarkable outpouring of resources and care. It was effective and efficient because there was an institutional infrastructure to coordinate and deliver it.

The Brooklyn Bureau has been a part of this great tradition for 137 years. Over the years it has modified its programming to meet changing needs. It offers day care, after-school programs, homemaker services, training for employment, food pantries, services for the mentally ill and much more. It is able to do these things because of a large group of individuals and businesspeople who have a broad definition of neighbor and community.

For people like you, who make the Bureau's work possible; neighbor is not limited to literally the person living next door to you. Rather, your empathy and compassion enables you to embrace people you have never met and to understand that they have the same desires and dreams...and fears...as you do.

You understand that everyone wants a secure place to live. The Bureau helps homeless, mentally ill women find housing.

You understand that everyone wants to feel there is someplace they are welcome and valued. The Bureau provides such places for emotionally troubled teens and mentally ill adults.

You understand that everyone wants to feel the joy of accomplishing things--whether it's children learning to read, or parents learning how to care for their children so they don't lose them to foster care or the wonder of earning a paycheck, possibly for the first time. The Bureau makes these things possible as well.

Thinking about community means you understand the many ways in which you can help the most fragile among us. You give money to the Bureau, many of you give volunteer time to its programs, hundreds of businesses like yours hire men and women trained by the Bureau.

With your support, the Brooklyn Bureau makes it possible for many thousands of our neighbors, especially vulnerable children and families and disabled adults, to pursue their dreams of healthy and productive lives.

Financial support is critical for the Bureau to continue its important work. Also essential is the support derived from the participation of hundreds of volunteers. This past year volunteers contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars in time.

These dedicated volunteers tutor children in day care programs and in low-performing schools. They tutor adults who are trying to earn GEDs or to learn English as a second language. Volunteers also conduct employment-oriented workshops for people who lost their jobs as a result of 9/11 or who, despite their disabilities, are moving from welfare to work.

The Bureau welcomes the involvement of individuals and companies in its volunteer programs. Volunteer projects are available to fit any schedule. I mentioned on-going tutoring. But you can also participate in a one-day project, as have hundreds of people in the banking and financial services and other industries. I'm sure you would find great satisfaction in coordinating a softball tournament or taking a field trip with developmentally disabled young adults.

All of you here tonight are providing financial support, and I know that many of you also volunteer for the Bureau. Thank you for your efforts. You are giving a magnificent gift, and I think you should applaud yourselves.

The needs are great, and the Bureau faces enormous challenges to maintain its exemplary programs. It is blessed with support from people like you, and with an extraordinary Executive Director--Donna Santarsiero.

Donna has been Executive Director of the Brooklyn Bureau of Community Services for 24 years. She has led the agency during some very tough years when the City and State's fiscal problems led to cutbacks in their funding, and when economic downturns affected giving by individuals and companies.

Despite those challenges, the agency's services to those in need have grown dramatically, and the Brooklyn Bureau has become synonymous with efficient, effective and responsive programming. One consultant rated it "the best-run, independent, non-profit human services organization in the city." That's quite an accolade.