We have a long-standing commitment to social responsibility.
At AveNew, our passion to serve is in the very fabric of our individual and collective beings. From empowering parents and children in Mexico and El Salvador to bringing together individuals and families for community engagement and development in America, we are committed to sharing our time, knowledge, and resources wherever and whenever we can.
I am deeply committed and involved in community volunteer work and charity efforts largely because of the wonderful feeling I get from giving to others. Whether it be my own local community or the global community - I just have this motto, you’ll never feel better in life than when you’re giving to other people.
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- Rick Bender, CEO & Director of Innovative Opportunities
In 1993, Tijuana was hit with catastrophic flooding, leaving 4,000 residents homeless. I had grown up building our family home and had some basic construction skills, and I felt called to do my part. I joined a group of like-minded people from a local church and, working together with local families, we built 10 houses in a week. The experience changed my life in immeasurable ways and truly defined who I am today.
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- Barbara Maynard, CEO & Director of Visionary Strategy
In 2014, my daughter and I led a group of moms and their kids to El Salvador. EmPowering the Americas, as the group has come to be known, has returned three times thus far to El Salvador, donating computers and installing Wi-Fi on a remote island, building a play structure for children at a parent-run child-care center and, most recently, working with a nonprofit trying to combat domestic and sexual violence in the country. Our intention is to bolster local efforts for a lasting impact on the surrounding community.
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- Barbara Maynard, CEO & Director of Visionary Strategy
Since moving to California, I have been called on to help in many charitable and community-building causes. When I learned that the popular South Bay 4th of July fireworks show had been canceled due to lack of funds, I stepped up to Chair the committee and helped raise the funds to bring it back. And as a life-long car guy, I was the Chair of the Palos Verdes Concours d’Elegance, which has helped raise thousands of dollars for local charities. I’m now President of our local Kiwanis Club, focused on helping improve the local and global community now that my two sons are grown and gone.
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- Rick Bender, CEO & Director of Innovative Opportunities
