A Million Dollar Gift to Local Charities ...
... and an approach to giving that encourages others to give as befits them and their passions.
By Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
What then are gifts and good deeds? They’re generous acts, done in an eager and voluntary spirit, that bring joy, and also reap joy, from the act of giving.
—Seneca, How to Give
Every year, the United Way focuses considerable attention on serving the needs of the ALICE population in our planning district. These are families that at first blush one might think are making enough, but in fact are not able to cover the basic costs of living.
And every year, Janel Donohue — president of the Rappahannock United Way — does all she can to meet as many of their needs as possible. “We aren’t able to meet all the needs,” she told the Advance, but without the help of Atlantic Builders and their trade partners, she would be able to do far less.
On Wednesday, Atlantic Builders and its trade partners presented $1 million in total gifts to the United Way and 13 other organizations through the “Give Back Home” program. These funds support charities throughout the Fredericksburg and Charlottesville communities, and each grantee received checks for between $1,000 and more than $100,000.
Donohue will use these funds to help families struggling to cover mortgage or rent. Last year, Rappahannock United Way was able to assist 25 families, made up of 80 individuals, through some trying times.
An Innovative Approach
The Give Back Home program is an innovative philanthropic effort, in that Atlantic Builders, which has long worked to support charities and organizations in its communities, uses its connections to bring in trade partners and maximize the amount of funds it gives.
“It’s even more wonderful that it’s not just Atlantic Builders,” Donohue said, but that “they include all their trade partners.” Not only does it allow the program to write the kinds of big checks it presented today at the Publisher Hotel in an event celebrating the gifts, but, Donohue said, “so many more individuals and companies get to be philanthropists, because some of the smaller companies would never be able to give $1 million. But to be part of it? It’s unbelievable.”
The Give Back Home program isn’t the first charitable effort that Fried has overseen, but it’s establishing itself as arguably his most successful.

The program started in 2018 and has grown steadily. This year’s contribution is nearly double last year’s gift of $550,00.
“I was always raised to give back,” Fried told the Advance. “My parents modeled that.”
The program has “evolved,” Fried said, “so we can give large amounts to a few charities…. We’re not the United Way, but we’ve become a little more like that … giving out funds particularly to charities that our employees and our trade partners are passionate about.”
The Give Back Home program is about more than the big gifts, however. It “also endows the Atlantic Builders Giving Fund which awards smaller donations and grants throughout the year. This year over $200,000 will be allocated to the Giving Fund,” according to a press release.
In picking recipients, Fried told the Advance that “We listen to our trade partners and our employees, and we try to find well-run organizations.”
That helps ensure that the money goes to organizations that will make good use of it. But there’s another impact as well that, though harder to measure, is arguably more important.
“If people like us, and respect us,” Fried told the Advance, “and they see an organization we’re helping out, they may be so inspired to do it also.”
He continued, noting that while each individual or corporation must decide who to help and how much to give, “if people see something that we’re doing and they want to engage with that organization, we think that’s the best thing that we can do to spread the word.”
Contributions are not just about money, either. “Obviously,” Fried said, “some people don’t have the funds but they can give their time,” so again, the Give Back Home program is inspiring others to do what they can.
And more help is needed.
One of the toughest parts of Donohue’s job is that she can’t help the tens of thousands of families in our planning district who are as much in need as those United Way can help.
“We need more awareness,” Donohue told the Advance, especially of “how much inflation is impacting individual lives, impacting families’ educations, financial stability, and healthy living.”
Fried’s approach to philanthropy is certainly inspiring many others. Like the company’s trade partners.
Brian Roinestad, Atlantic Builders’ Director of Purchasing, was quoted in the event’s press release saying: “We’re especially grateful to our amazing trade partners, who make this program possible by donating their time, energy and resources year after year. We are lucky to have more than 50 partners who share our passion for giving back.”
“Brian is an amazing guy,” Donohue said. “I want that on the record.”
There it is. May it inspire others.
The List of Grantees at Wednesday’s Give Back Home Event
516Project
FAB Foundation
Leashes of Valor - Fredericksburg
Oberle Academy
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