46
For Advisor Use Only
March/April
2014
The Bulletin Board
April 15, 2014, marks the anniversary of the Boston Marathon
bombings, which killed three individuals, injured hundreds
more, and forever impacted the lives of an untold number
of others. Although the attack will always be remembered
for the carnage and suffering it brought to innocent people,
I hope that it will also be remembered as a time when a
community, a city, and a country rallied around the needs
of victims and their families.
We’ve written before about how the Commonwealth
community immediately jumped into action when news
of the bombings first broke. We were inundated with calls
and e-mails from advisors and their staff, strategic partners,
and other colleagues, all inquiring about the health and
safety of our own home office staff and loved ones.
Once the message of safety was conveyed, the next question
was, “How can I help?” The day after the bombing, the
Commonwealth Cares board announced that the charity
would match every dollar donated, up to $100,000, to
support the victims of the attack. When we met that
match a mere 24 hours later, we raised the amount
another $25,000—and we met that number, too.
Your Donations at Work
Because many of the victims of this tragedy lived in
Commonwealth’s backyard, the board decided that
Commonwealth Cares would provide assistance to them
directly, rather than fold all of the contributions we
received into The One Fund. Initially, due to privacy
concerns, it was difficult to identify which victims were
seeking assistance. Then, in mid-May, I was introduced
to a group called the
Boston Survivors Accessibility
Alliance (BSAA)
. The BSAA is a group of general
contractors, architects, designers, and suppliers who have
committed to pledge their time and resources toward
retrofitting the homes of victims who now require
handicap accessibility. Commonwealth Cares joined the
BSAA to provide monetary support where donations of
supplies may fall short.
Commonwealth Cares continues to act as a member of
the BSAA, and that membership has provided additional
avenues for our support to have an immediate and meaningful
impact. Through the BSAA, Commonwealth Cares was
connected with the
Massachusetts Office of Victims
Assistance (MOVA)
. MOVA provides assistance to
victims of crime throughout Massachusetts. Following
the bombings, MOVA established a Marathon Bombing
Victim Services unit to assist with the very unique issues
faced by these victims.
Through MOVA, Commonwealth Cares learned that
although The One Fund list of victims numbered
approximately 260, MOVA’s list, provided by the FBI,
numbered approximately 500. Where the focus of The
One Fund is on victims with the most severe of physical
Commonwealth Cares : An Update on Our Support
of Boston Marathon Bombing Victims, One Year Later
GAVIN MORRISSEY, JD, LLM
As I write this, nearly one year has passed
since that horrible day when we witnessed
the unfathomable: a terrorist attack on one
of the most celebrated and long-standing
athletic events in America.
Boston Strong
Supporting Boston Marathon bombing survivors,
other victims of violence, and their families.
