Community Involvement
Mark Franko
Peter Paul Development Center, Chairman of the Board
The Peter Paul Development Center is an outreach and community service ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia serving the Church Hill and neighboring communities in the East End of Richmond. The organization’s mission is to uplift and empower the quality of life and standards of living for the families in the East End of Richmond. The center has out grown its space, and Mark Franko, along with other business members in the community are spearheaded a campaign drive for a new facility. Mark serves as the building committee chair for the new facility and was elected to the Board of Directors in 2006 and now serves as Chairman of the Board.
Gertrude High School, Building Committee Chair & Serves on the Board of Visitors
The mission of Saint Gertrude High School is to provide young women with a superior, college-preparatory education in a safe and Christian learning environment. Saint Gertrude High School, a Catholic school and ministry of the Benedictine Sisters of Virginia, seeks an ethnically, culturally, and economically diverse student body from all parts of the Richmond metropolitan area. Saint Gertrude was built in 1913 to provide a home and a chapel for the Benedictine Sisters. In 1922, Saint Edith Academy, a boarding school for girls at Bristow, Virginia was closed, and the high school department was transferred to Saint Gertrude in Richmond. The school continued to operate solely in the original building until a new classroom wing was added in 1956. These two structures then made up the school building for nearly twenty years, until the 1972 addition was completed. Mark served a the Building Committee Chair for a 40,000 square foot addition/renovation, dedicated in May of 2005, which houses a new library/media Center, athletic facility, and science labs.
Louis LaFratta:
Partnership for the Future, Business Sponsor & Student Mentor
Partnership for the Future (PFF) educates and inspires students of limited resources to pursue access to private sector networks and college opportunities so that they may become leaders and providers in our communities. PFF’s mission is to ensure that every academically motivated student with limited resources has a workplace internship in high school and can attend the college of their choice. Each year Business sponsors team up with Partnership for the Future, and are key to the success of the program. Business Sponsors are the backbone of PFF's youth employment component. Business Sponsors commit to providing paid job experiences for PFF students for three consecutive summers, providing workplace mentors, and contributing to PFF’s scholarship fund (used to match students’ savings and provide additional scholarship monies to PFF’s current students and graduates). Since 2002, Louis LaFratta has served as a business sponsor and student mentor for the program. From 2003 to 2005, Louis had the privilege of working with I-nyah Hiwott, a Partnership for the Future student interested in architecture and urban development. I-nyah graduated in the spring of 2005, and began his studies at Virginia Commonwealth University during the fall of 2005.
Franko - LaFratta Construction Continuously Supports:
Ronald McDonald House Charities:
Since 1980, the nine bedroom house on historic Monument Avenue has opened its door to families from across the nation and around the world who travel to Richmond for medical care. Guests build friendships and draw support from others who also have a child in the hospital. Any family who has a child in any area hospital, regardless of income, can stay at the Ronald McDonald House. Louis LaFratta, FLF Services (a division of Franko - LaFratta Construction), and Commonwealth Painting have worked closely with The Ronald McDonald House to provide repairs and general maintenance to the facility free of charge.
Hayes Foundation:
The Hayes Foundation was founded on June 15, 2002 by Kyra Oliver and her friends and family in honor of her 4½-month-old son, who died of SIDS on June 11, 2002. The Hayes Foundation strives to support the awareness of SIDS, the number one cause of death in infants under one year of age, through partnerships with local, regional and national organizations to educate parents, siblings, grandparents, caregivers or anyone who cares for an infant. We continuously support the Hayes Foundation and their annual fundraising ball.
Franko - LaFratta Construction Continuously supports the following organizations:
- Pink Ribbon Campaign: Breast Cancer Research
- YMCA
- Make A Wish Foundation
- St. Christopher’s School
- St. Bridget’s School
- Benedictine High School
