Issue date: May 12, 1999
By TOM GIBBONEY
When it comes to community service, we all do what we can. At least that's the theory.
In Ross Edwards' case, the potential rises substantially, especially if you are thinking about putting a roof over anything. As president and CEO of Webcor Builders, one of the largest construction companies in the Bay Area, Ross brings an order of magnitude to a project that can transform dreams into finished buildings.
The most recent case is a 10,000-square-foot classroom and headquarters building for Bayshore Christian Ministries, an East Palo Alto nonprofit started in 1984 by Stanford graduate Andrew Hartwell.
"After I saw their facility -- a basement in a small East Palo Alto home -- I had a dream of helping Andrew find some new space, either an older building we could remodel or a new building," Ross recalled last week.
That two-year-old vision has come true for Mr. Hartwell through the involvement of Ross and his company, other generous supporters, and local churches, including Bethany Lutheran, where Ross has been a member for many years. A few weeks ago, Ross arrived with 45 Webcor workers, who donated a Saturday to participate in an old-fashioned "barn-raising," during which the walls and beams of the new building were erected.
"Even the crane time was donated," Ross said, adding that a conventional crew would have taken about two weeks to do what the volunteers managed in one day.
"I figure we saved about $25,000," Ross said.
In addition to the Webcor crew, Ross has applied his magic touch to bringing in other significant donations toward the building.
"All the plumbing systems were donated, and the air conditioning was donated by Hirschfield Mechanical of Menlo Park," Ross said.
And there was a carpet mixup on another Webcor job, the W Hotel in San Francisco, that resulted in a major donation of all the carpeting for the building.
All in all, Ross estimates that the in-kind donations he arranged are worth more than $200,000, or nearly a third of the actual cost of construction.
"The building would easily cost over $1 million at $100 a square foot. We're going to get it built for under $700,000," he said, adding that the group still needs financial help to complete the project.
When he is not busy at Webcor or involved in the East Palo Alto building, Ross turns his vision to other countries. He serves as board chairman of Holt International Children's Services and recently returned from China where the board visited orphanages and urged Chinese officials to improve conditions for abandoned children. Holt operates in 13 countries to place orphaned children in foster or permanent homes.
"We work with orphanages to set up places for these kids, who are all girls. We need to get them out of the orphanages, which often are overcrowded. We feel great about China's recent decision that adopted children do not count against the one-child-per-family rule. That will help us a a lot," Ross said.
Ross and his wife, Gloria, helped in their own way years ago by adopting Tami Soon from Korea when she was 3. Ross proudly reports that Tami attended Portola Valley schools and is now teaching special education children in the Portland area after earning a master's degree. She joined sons Ross Jr. and John in the Edwards household.
In the near future, Ross said he plans to ease back at Webcor and focus on consulting for nonprofit ventures that might need someone with his expertise.
"I've been building for 40 years. I think I can bring the same things Webcor brings to its clients to the nonprofit community."
Tom Gibboney is publisher of the Almanac.
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