Business is so brisk these days at Hurd Real Estate Services that the company has hired a veteran of land development to handle deals 
it has in progress. But dealmaking is only part of the story at the West Des Moines firm.

Kristin Hurd, the 34-year-old daughter of company founder Richard Hurd, is busy learning about land development from old hand Roger Langpaul and putting the face of the company forward in a broad sweep of community charities.

In fact, dealmaking is only part of the story at many Greater Des Moines real estate firms, where brokers, property managers and land developers devote countless hours volunteering and helping to raise funds for causes that range from fighting cancer to helping children who need a role model.

Some, such as Kristin Hurd, are involved because of a personal experience; others just answer a community call to action.

Hurd Real Estate Services

For the Hurd family, it started out as a personal thing. Kristin’s twin sister, Jamie, was diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin lymphoma at age 25.

Jamie underwent a 10-hour surgery to stabilize her spine from the tumor; she had weekly chemotherapy treatments while she was learning to walk again.

She was given a clean bill of health one year after the cancer was discovered. She was running and walking and “in great shape,” Kristin said, when she died of a pulmonary embolism at age 29.

“She is and will always be my hero,” Kristin said. “She was so strong and brave in the midst of horrible circumstances, and she is the one who drives me to make a difference in our community. I want to honor her memory and the incredible life she lived. She was such a giving, kindhearted person who would do anything for anybody.”

When Jamie was diagnosed with cancer, Kristin got involved with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

“Jamie’s strength and courage inspired me to want to make a difference in the lives of those who were suffering from a blood cancer,” Kristin said.

Kristin became an ambassador for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, traveling to cancer centers and medical conferences to represent the organization and make people aware of its services for patients and their families.

She is no longer an ambassador, but the Hurd family continues to sponsor the society’s Pillars of Philanthropy advertisements in dsm magazine and the Business Record in honor of Jamie every year. The family also sponsors other Leukemia and Lymphoma Society fundraising events, such as the recent chili cook-off.

“When you lose someone you love, you see things differently,” Kristin said. “You know how fragile life is and what is truly important. My sister’s life is what inspires me and our company every day to have a strong philanthropic impact in the community.

“While development of our great city is important, buildings come and go. Community landscapes change over time but investing in people’s lives and in the future generation of our community will truly have a lasting impact – and that is the most important thing.”

Richard Hurd said his daughter coordinates and represents the business and his family in other organizations.

Here are the organizations:
• Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Iowa, where she is a member of the board of directors and is one of three chairpersons of the 2014-2015 Old Bags Gala.
• Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines, where she is a member of the marketing committee.
• United Way of Central Iowa, where she is a member of the Women’s Leadership Connection and the advocacy committee.
• Broadlawns Foundation, member of the advocate circle.
• Prevent Child Abuse Iowa, where she is a member of the Cheers for Children fundraiser committee.
• Iowa Women Lead Change, where she is a member of the Leadership Conference steering committee and program co-chairwoman.
• Des Moines AM Rotary.

Gene Nelson pedals a big wheel for charity

Real estate appraiser Gene Nelsen followed his fancy for bicycles, riding them in particular, to his annual participation for the last 13 years in the Big Wheel Rally, an event at which adults ride children’s tricycles on a glorified bar hop to raise money for the Children’s Cancer Connection.

Or maybe, his mom put him in the giving spirit.

“My family didn’t have much growing up; we didn’t have the opportunity to give to others” Nelsen said.

Starting in 1986, inspired by a publicaton from the Catholic Church, Nelsen’s mother, Marlene, decided to sew sleeping bags for the homeless. That’s inspiration enough. This year, with the help of friends in Nelsen’s hometown of Milford, she will complete bag number 10,000.

“I don’t have time to sew quilts to be made into sleeping bags,” Nelsen said. Instead, with his wife, Amy, he gets involved in other ways.

Nelsen said he can be a soft touch for nearly any worthwhile cause that needs help.

“We get our fingers into a lot of things, or they get their fingers into us,” he said. 

But of special focus has been the Big Bike Rally, which can raise $40,000 to $50,000 from individual contributions from participants, sponsors such as Nelsen and the crowd that turns out each December to watch the event.

About four years ago, the Nelsens decided to “up their game” and began sponsoring a cabin for young cancer patients and their families during Oncology Week at the YMCA camp in Boone.

Nelsen is on his second generation Big Wheel as a result of that sponsorship. He donated his original Big Wheel to a camp counselor who tried to run the equivalent of a speed trial with it and “stripped out the front end.”

Last year, the Nelsens were a signature sponsor for the first PandaBar Ride to raise money for the Amanda the Panda Family Grief Center. Amanda the Panda provides peer support to children and families after a loved one dies.

The event raised about $11,000 from participants who rode their bicycles along a route that started and stopped at El Bait Shop by way of Confluence Brewing Co., Exile Brewing Co. and Orlando’s Bar & Grill.

Nelsen also chairs a committee that sponsors a scholarship for the University of Northern Iowa real estate program.

“This is sort of putting your money where your mouth is,” Nelsen said.

Other charities include:
• Home Inc.
• Rotary Foundation.
• JDRF – Greater Iowa.
• Variety – The Children’s Charity.
• Youth Homes of Mid-America.
• Urbandale Community Action Network.
• Never Say Can’t Foundation.

Hubbell brings some heat

It is no secret that Hubbell Realty Co. approaches charity in an extreme way. Beginning in 2006, President and CEO Rick Tollakson got the company and 200 trade partners to build a home and let the nation watch on ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”

Three years later, Hubbell and the contractors it works with built nine homes in nine days for Anawim Housing at 21st Street and Forest Avenue in Des Moines.

In 2013, the company and its contingent of employees and trade partners spent one week replacing 1960s-era cabins at Easter Seals Iowa’s Camp Sunnyside with two dormitory-style cabins that are handicap accessible, energy efficient and include an interior storm shelter.

More recently, Tollakson and son T.J. Tollakson could be seen in television advertisements promoting the American Lung Association’s Fight for Air Climb.

All of that puts a very public face on the company’s role as a major player in philanthropic efforts in Greater Des Moines.

At age 156, the company hardly needs the name recognition, and for all of those high-profile events, Hubbell and its employees are committed behind-the-scenes players in community organizations.

Tollakson is a firm believer that as leader of the company, he has an obligation to be a leader or at least a player in a range of activities that benefit the community. For that reason, he has spearheaded efforts to raise corporate dollars to sponsor the Des Moines Triathlon.

The company has found unique ways to help its employees become more involved in community activities, not that some of them need a lot of prodding.

After finding out that some Hubbell employees were reluctant to leave work to volunteer for a couple of hours at a day camp, for example, he instituted a policy that workers could use eight hours of personal time off for such activities.

Tollakson, who had assumed his employees would just leave the office on their own, found out otherwise.

“I’m not much of a rules guy, but I understand that other people might need that structure,” he said.

The policy operates under a program called Hubbell Engagement of Associates Team, known around the company’s West Des Moines office as HEAT.

Tollakson was in blue jeans and a T-shirt recently as a HEAT crew helped out at Courage League Sports, a recreational adaptive sports facility in Urbandale that is designed for children not able to go “full speed” due to disability, illness or emotional challenges.

Alex Broderick, a Hubbell commercial property manager, helped raise $140,000 for Courage League Sports last year as a member of the Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute and participated in a sprucing up of its gymnasium and reception area.

In addition to HEAT, Hubbell also has Fundraising Fridays, where employees can wear jeans to work for a $3 contribution to a fund that is distributed to organizations. Last year, more than $5,000 was collected and turned over to nonprofits recommended by employees.

Along with Broderick, Hubbell Realty has a number of people scattered through its divisions who have earned reputations for their philanthropic work. CBRE|Hubbell Commercial brokers Todd Millang and Tyler Dingel, for example, have spent several years working with and mentoring at-risk children. Commercial broker Colleen Johnson launched the company’s Birthday Cakes for Homeless Children in 2009. The program recently delivered its 500th cake.

“It just seems like there is a lot to do,” Tollakson said.

Other charitable activities include:
• American Heart Association Heart Walk.
• Feisal Sayeed Memorial Golf Tournament, which raised more than $7,600 for Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Iowa and the YMCA of Greater Des Moines.
•  Easter Seals Camp Sunnyside Regatta, sponsor and 2014 Regatta Cup champions.
• 2014 Extreme Charity Golf Classic, which raised $15,000 and donated $5,000 each to Operation First Response, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Iowa and Best Buddies Iowa.
• United Way of Central Iowa, with 100 percent employee participation for the 10th year.
• YMCA of Greater Des Moines.
• Orchard Place.
• Variety – The Children’s Charity.
• Des Moines Community Playhouse.
• Beacon of Life.
• AHeinz57 Pet Rescue & Transport Inc.
• Race for the Cure.
• Combat Hunger.
• Toys for Tots.