Philanthropic 50: Andrew and Heather Florance

There are times when one story is enough to establish a philanthropist’s reputation. That’s the case with the Florances’ role in the 2017 opening of the Bunny Mellon Healing Garden at the Children’s National Hospital. It began when Andrew and Heather Florance heard the touching story of a child patient expressing a last wish to go outside, and the heroic efforts of the Children’s National care staff to fulfill that wish. Andrew Florance, founder of the CoStar Group, a massive database of global real estate, and his wife Heather then decided to take on the challenge. Florance and his employees raised $2.1 million for the project, with Florance himself contributing a matching $1 million. A further $5 million came from the estate of the late Rachel “Bunny” Lambert Mellon, and the hospital roof was transformed into a garden with impressive views of the city. In true Washington fashion the garden was dedicated to the first ladies of the United States, and Melania Trump visited it recently.