Larken Cares

Six people from our team traveled to Guatemala on a volunteer trip as a part of our ongoing relationship with From Houses to Homes, a Guatemalan-based organization providing sustainable housing and education to some of the poorest communities in the country.

In a region where many families live in makeshift homes that are constructed of cornstalks or corrugated metal with dirt floors, the grassroots organization, based in Mt. Tabor, NJ, has built over 1800 homes. From Houses to Homes also strives to provide education to their families and built the Escuela Kemna'oj, a pre-K through 9^th-grade school that has a current enrollment of 175 children. Most of these students have parents who were never educated and can neither read nor write.

Recognizing the organization’s vital work, Larken Associates has provided financial support to From Houses to Homes for over a decade. President and CEO David Gardner has personally traveled to Guatemala 13 times to build homes in the communities. In 2019, Gardner expanded his own mission and decided to send two volunteer teams of Larken Associates employees to build two homes for indigenous families in the highlands.

The company’s return to Guatemala this year, after a forced pandemic break, saw its volunteer team construct a home over a five-day period, while additionally delivering much-needed food and supplies to families.

Meet Dayana and Dulce, two Guatemalan students at Escuela Kemna’oj who Larken Associates is sponsoring in support of From Houses to Homes, a Guatemalan-based grassroots organization providing sustainable housing and access to health care and education to support the organization’s ongoing work to provide relief to struggling Guatemalans.

Thanks to the sponsorships, Dayana and Dulce are provided with access to the medical clinic (including their family), two meals a day, education materials and social worker support.

Larken Associates has provided financial support to From Houses to Homes for over a decade. President and CEO David Gardner has personally traveled to Guatemala 13 times to build homes in the communities. In 2019, Gardner expanded his own mission and decided to send two volunteer teams of Larken Associates employees to build two homes for indigenous families in the highlands.

Giving back is especially important to us. Each year, Larken Associates hosts a #LarkenCares Drive at our corporate office and throughout our Larken Living multifamily portfolio to support our local communities.

Our team and residents generously donated much-needed goods in support of Second Harvest Food Bank of Lehigh Valley, LifePath Christian Ministries, Norwescap and Safe Harbor Easton just in time for the holiday season.

Because of our generous Larken team and residents at our Larken Living multifamily communities in Warren County, NJ, we collected 289 pounds of food for Norwescap during our #LarkenCares Drive in 2021.

We are incredibly grateful we could support their mission of distributing more than 2 million pounds of food annually to charitable organizations throughout Hunterdon, Sussex and Warren counties.

Our Larken Living residential communities recognized Breast Cancer Awareness Month by wearing pink to bring awareness. In support, Larken Associates made a donation to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, an independent, not-for-profit organization which has raised $569.4 million to support clinical and translational research on breast cancer at medical institutions in the United States and abroad.

Larken Associates donated $5,000 to From Houses to Homes, a Guatemalan-based grassroots organization providing sustainable housing and access to health care and education to support the organization’s ongoing work to provide relief to struggling Guatemalans.

The company’s latest donation follows the mass devastation resulting from Hurricanes Eta and Iota in November which decimated the already crippled Central American country as it struggled to survive the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic crisis.

Larken Associates has provided financial support to From Houses to Homes for over a decade. President and CEO David Gardner has personally traveled to Guatemala 13 times to build homes in the communities. In 2019, Gardner expanded his own mission and decided to send two volunteer teams of Larken Associates employees to build two homes for indigenous families in the highlands.

For over 50 years, Larken Associates has made positive contributions to communities through our projects, people, and philanthropic efforts. Behind this commitment, our Larken Cares initiative allows us to play an active role in building healthier and more resilient communities.

We know that together we can continue to make a powerful impact right here in New Jersey, and are excited to announce our newest partner organization, Isles, Inc. Founded in 1981, Isles is a community development and environmental organization based in Trenton that is focused on fostering self-reliant families and healthy, sustainable communities. Through its four pillars, Isles:

• Revitalizes communities by working alongside local residents to plan their neighborhoods’ future and to develop energy efficient, affordable and healthy homes, parks, gardens, shared facilities, and more

• Trains and educates adults and youth through an alternative high school, green job training center and family support services

• Builds wealth through innovative financial services and loans that help restore credit and increase savings

• Promotes healthy living by tackling environmental hazards, fostering energy efficiency, improving open space, and expanding access to locally grown food

We were honored to kick off our partnership through our sponsorship of Isle's virtual Harvest Celebration held on November 14th.

Looking towards the future, we know that there are numerous synergies between Isles’ mission and our Larken Cares initiative that will provide us with an opportunity to utilize our expertise to assist in creating healthy, sustainable communities locally and look forward to partnering with the organization on a number of initiatives in the months to come.

While much has changed since their founding in 1873, the Greater Somerset County YMCA has always focused on working side-by-side with its neighbors to make sure that everyone, regardless of age, income or background, has the opportunity to learn, grow and thrive.

Growing from humble beginnings almost 150 years ago, the Greater Somerset County YMCA now boasts a membership of over 33,000 people with locations in Bridgewater, Hillsborough, Somerset Hills, Somerville, and Plainfield as well as outreach programs in Franklin. However, their ability to continue to play such an important role in our communities relies upon the support of companies and individuals throughout the Greater Somerset County area. Recognizing the important role of the Greater Somerset County YMCA in our local community, we were honored to recently donate to their 2020 Annual Campaign. We hope our donation allows the organization to continue to make a meaningful and enduring impact in the lives of so many from across the area.

For all students, back to school will look much different this year during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the 2020 school year will be full of challenges, many students will struggle to attend their first day of school, whether in-person or at home, with the most basic educational tools in hand.

Larken Associates recently partnered with R&J Strategic Communications, a Bridgewater, NJ-based communications agency, to help students in need this fall by donating backpacks full of school supplies and other necessities in support of Jersey Cares’ School Supply Drive. Jersey Cares works with dozens of schools, children's shelters and community centers with the goal of no children in New Jersey having to experience a first day of school without basic necessities. Larken Associates is proud to support Jersey Cares’ mission of helping to bridge the gap between disadvantage and academic success.

We know that families continue to look for fun things to do together during the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with our joint venture partner at the property, Gallium Capital, we are honored to donate the use of the parking lot at our Bayonne Shops in Bayonne, N.J. to the Bridge Arts Festival to enable them to host their Family Drive-In Movie Experience series throughout the summer. Showcasing a wide variety of blockbuster and family movies in a socially distanced setting, the Family Drive-In Movie Experience is a recent addition to the Bridge Arts Festival’s slate of yearly events. 

“Although the pandemic has changed many things about the way our organization operates and the types of events we can offer, we remain unwavering in our mission to bring quality arts and entertainment directly to the residents of Bayonne,” said Cheryl Mack, Co-Founder of the Bridge Arts Festival. “We sincerely appreciate Larken Associates and Gallium Capital’s generous donation and their help in making this unique experience a reality for Bayonne.”

Established in 2017, the Bridge Arts Festival is a 3-day celebration of arts, music and culture in Bayonne featuring two stages of entertainment, one stage for musical performances and one stage for dance and theatre performances.  The festival also contains an artist vendor market, a free kids craft corner, a food truck row, and a beer garden. In addition to the annual Bridge Arts Festival, the organization hosts a variety of events throughout the year to bring quality arts and educational programming to Bayonne including monthly art exhibitions and weekly Art in the Park events.

The entire team at Larken Associates is happy to work with the Bridge Arts Festival to help them in their mission of bringing the arts to the local community through this safe and memorable experience.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we asked our multifamily residents and commercial tenants to create rainbows and messages of hope to show that after every storm comes a rainbow. For each submission we received, we donated to local food banks including the Second Harvest Food Bank, Flemington Area Food Pantry, Food Bank Network of Somerset County and the York County Food Bank to help those in need during the difficult time of the pandemic.

We honored local heroes in our community who helped others during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether they were individuals working in the healthcare system, helping stock food at grocery stores or making and donating face masks, our residents, commercial tenants and our Larken team nominated their local hero to be featured on our social media.

Meet some of our nominees - Charmaine, a resident at Horizons at the Village at Whitehall making and donating face masks to her fellow residents, Rachel, a nurse working in the COVID-19 unit in a NJ hospital and Sara and Bennett, EMTs working hard to ensure the safety of others. We'd like to thank these selfless people for helping others during the difficult time.

Building homes is an important part of what we do, but these homes may be the most memorable ones we've ever built. We teamed up with From Houses to Homes, an organization that has built over 1,500 homes for those in need, traveling all the way to Guatemala to build homes for indigenous families.

Members of our team, with the help of the local community, built homes for the Canel Colchaj and the Pirir Patzán families in the little village of El Rejón by Sumpango. They did everything from pouring the foundations, to hauling brick up to the sites, to personally delivering the final homes to the families.

They also had the opportunity to experience the local culture and community, touring the area and giving out toys and treats to the children of the village.

President and CEO David Gardner has personally traveled to Guatemala 13 times to build homes in the communities.

We helped animals find their fur-ever home during our #LarkenCares Bethlehem Pet Adoption Event at The Hills at Lehigh in Bethlehem, PA on May 19, 2019. Local shelters were on hand to help our residents and community members find the perfect furry companion.

We're proud to have so many pet-friendly Larken Living residential communities, so we offered our residents 50% off their adoption fee when they adopted a pet during the event. Local vendors also sold plenty of pet-related goodies and snacks. We want to give a special thank you to all of the rescue groups, vendors and residents who came out in support of No Kill Lehigh Valley.

Did you know just one pint of blood can save up to three lives? We teamed up with the Miller-Keystone Blood Center in Bethlehem, PA for our #LarkenCares Blood Drives on August 17, 2019 and March 21, 2020! Taking care of our community is something we take great pride in, and we're happy to do our part to help.

Our 2020 blood drive also provided much needed blood to hospitals in our region as they faced shortages arising from COVID-19. Thank you to all o­­­f our residents who generously gave blood, greatly benefiting the Bethlehem community and helping save lives.

We teamed up with Caitlin's Smiles, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing children facing long-term illness in Pennsylvania hospitals with art and craft supplies, homemade cards and activities to make their stay easier. We set up card crafting stations at our Larken Living residential communities and corporate office to send well wishes and help brighten a child's day! Thank you to everyone who got creative for a good cause.

We helped our multifamily residents get prepared for the season ahead at our Flu Vaccine Clinic hosted by our apartment community The Hills at Lehigh and CVS Pharmacy. We'd like to thank everyone who joined us to help protect themselves and their community. We're proud we can offer services that make Larken Living convenient for our residents!

We're thankful for our caring and generous multifamily residents who helped give back to our community in a very special way. We partnered with the Lehigh Valley Business Group for our #LarkenCares Senior Shoebox Drive. Donations included small novelty items and packaged treats to bring a little joy to senior citizens in need at local assisted living facilities in the Lehigh Valley. We were happy to help put smiles on the faces of seniors in need during the holiday season.

Supporting our local communities is an important part of what we do, especially in Bethlehem, PA where so many of our resident’s call home. Our #LarkenLiving team proudly sponsored local Freedom High School's basketball team! We wished them the best of luck throughout the season and during their championship game. Go Patriots!

We're proud to have been a sponsor of the 12th Annual 5k Walk/Run for the Sean Hanna Foundation! We fully support the foundation's fight to eliminate childhood cancers.

Did you know that socks are the most needed and least donated items at homeless shelters? We teamed up with the Lehigh Valley Business Group to help them reach their goal of 10,000 pairs of new socks for the homeless in Lehigh Valley, PA.

Our Larken Living residential communities collected 445 pairs of socks, with our apartment community The Hills at Lehigh collecting the most. Combined with the socks donated at our corporate office, the grand total came to 645 pairs! We'd like to thank each and every person who donated to our #LarkenCares Sock Drive. You've made an impact on someone's life.

On Veterans Day at Horizons at the Village at Whitehall, our 55+ active adult community in Lehigh County, PA, we honored those who served by unveiling our new military wall. The wall proudly displays a photo and bio of each service member from the community to honor our residents who bravely served or have a family member who is currently serving. Thank you to all veterans who sacrificed to protect our country!

We'd like to thank all of our residents who donated to our #LarkenCares Drive for homeless children. We're immensely grateful for our compassionate residents at Horizons at the Village at Whitehall, our 55+ active adult community in Lehigh County, PA, for helping us give back to those in need in our local community.