MDC believes that giving back to the community, both as a firm and as individuals, is an important value. While most of our charitable giving occurs at the individual level, some of the more significant programs we have developed as a firm include: Staff Directed Fund: In order to encourage community involvement throughout our firm, a portion of our charitable budget is directed by those staff members who have an interest in doing so. Consistent with our philosophy of personal involvement, they choose to support many of the organizations with contributions of their own time and energy as well as our charitable dollars. Associate Leadership/Service Program: As part of our two-year associate program, every participant is expected to assume at least one leadership role within a community/charitable organization. In order to facilitate this process, MDC maintains regular donor relationships with several organizations that we believe offer particularly attractive leadership opportunities for our associates and are also reasonable and consistent with the demands of their jobs. We believe that this program helps to instill a sense of broader responsibility in a group of talented individuals who likely will assume significant leadership positions later in their careers. In addition to these corporate programs and our active support of several educational institutions with which we have relationships, principals of MDC play active roles in numerous community/service organizations.