Businesspeople Bring Passion and Enthusiasm to Volunteer Activities

A look at the list of Fernando Award recipients reveals that many were self-starting businesspeople who made a name for themselves in their profession before expanding into the volunteerism the award honors. “They are successful in business and so they have the extra time and the wherewithal to earn the award,” said Rickey Gelb, a real estate investor who received the award in 2000. But previous recipient and past foundation president Lee Alpert disagreed that success in business carries over into a success at volunteer charity work. For one, he said, if there is no interest to begin with then no amount of success in the business world can create that interest. “There are major companies and people (in the Valley) who are hugely successful that have never even been nominated because they have not chosen to participate in the community,” said Alpert, an attorney. The Fernando Award traces its roots back to businesspeople; for years Valley chambers of commerce chose the nominees. That legacy is why businesspeople have been the primary recipients, said Richard Leyner, a senior vice president in the Encino office of real estate broker NAI Capital. Being visible and active in the community through organizations such as the chambers is what helps get businesspeople involved, said Leyner, who traces his volunteer work back to when he joined the Encino Chamber of Commerce. “It is my exposure as a businessperson that I got to know these things,” Leyner said. Many in real estate Gelb and Leyner follow a long line of real estate agents or developers previously honored for their volunteer contributions in the San Fernando Valley. If there is one profession that stands out among the recipients it is real estate, especially in the first two decades when the Fernando was given out. These men and they were all males in that time period entered real estate in the post-war boom when land was plentiful and cheap in the Valley. Some had other business ventures on the side or had been in non-real estate related careers. For instance, ’72 recipient Joseph Chase helped operate his family’s dairy and founded a bank before turning to buying and selling land. Herbert C. Lightfoot, given the award in 1970, had been in the entertainment industry with 20th Century Fox and Paramount and afterward turned to land speculation that developed Panorama City. As the years passed, the traditional professions of real estate, bankers and insurance gave way to entrepreneurs who started their own businesses or grew an existing business. Some of those recipients give weight to Alpert’s position that the fabulously wealthy don’t necessary make the best volunteers and that a commitment to a lifetime of volunteerism can come from any background. Spending time Take for instance ’81 recipient Sal Buccieri, who operated a real estate office in the Valley and now lives in Palm Desert. Buccieri didn’t make as much money as he could have because of the time he spent at volunteer activities, Alpert said. Or take Alpert’s friend Flip Smith, the recently-deceased owner of Flip’s Tire Center and Flip’s Performance Concepts in Van Nuys. Smith received the Fernando in 1997 for, among other activities, bringing together business owners along Sepulveda Boulevard to rid the area of gangs, prostitutes and graffiti. “He never once backed off from his community groups,” Alpert said. Former business owner Rose Goldwater didn’t put millions of dollars toward charitable groups. she gave her time, Alpert added. For many years Goldwater and her late husband Nat operated a printing company yet still found time for area chambers, the Rotary Club, the West Valley Boys and Girls Club, Pacific Lodge Youth Services, and West Hills Hospital. She found a way to balance the time demands of the business and following her heart’s desire to volunteer. “You walk a tightrope,” said Goldwater, who received the Fernando in 2001.