Family Endowment
Joe Steingold explains how he and his brothers learned about helping people: "My father and his four brothers were doctors and lawyers who always treated patients and represented clients regardless of their ability to pay."
Instilled with that same spirit of altruism, brothers Ira, Lawrence, Joe and Sam Steingold, along with their parents, Thelma and Maurice Steingold, established the Steingold Family Fund to benefit CHKD's Child Abuse Program.
"It was a collaborative decision," Lawrence says, "as are all major giving decisions for our family. We discuss what the organization does and whether it's something we're excited to support. We also try to fill in where the need is unmet."
The family's late patriarch, attorney Maurice Steingold, was born and raised in Norfolk's Berkley neighborhood. His quiet generosity made him a respected community member. In 2010 he passed away at the age of 94. "He lived a good and long life," Lawrence says, "always doing things, often privately, to help others around him."
The current Steingold family business, Woodway Management, is an offshoot of Maurice's real-estate development business. Three of the brothers work together in the Virginia Beach office: Lawrence, a CPA; Joe, a licensed real-estate broker; and Sam, the finance/operations officer with an MBA. Eldest brother Ira works with the business remotely and is a partner in the Chesapeake-based law firm Steingold and Mendelson.
"Having young children helped shape my decision to support the Child Abuse Program," Sam explains. He and his wife, Trish, are parents of Max, 10, and Rose, 9. Sam says the knowledge he gained about child abuse through the CHKD program inspired him to join the board of Virginia Beach CASA, for which he's now vice president. CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates, who work with abused and neglected children.
Ira and his wife, Jean, have one grown son, Michael, a recent graduate of the University of California at Berkeley. Ira points to his own 15 years of work with Virginia's Division of Child Support Enforcement as a factor in his giving decision.
"What's neat about our family," Ira adds, "is that we're constantly communicating and sharing ideas. When this idea to support the Child Abuse Program came up, there was no question. We all agreed it was the way to go."