Meet Dave Bing
A native of Livermore, who grew up less than half a mile from what is now Habitat East Bay’s Freeda Court development, Dave Bing never could find a good reason to leave his hometown. “For the first 15 years of my life I rode my bike past that vacant lot every day. When you [Habitat East Bay] came to town, and Asbury [United Methodist Church] got involved, I was thrilled.”
After dropping out of UC Berkeley and working a few years in the landscape industry, Dave started White Oak Landscape. Around that time, while visiting his twin brother Robert in Chico, Dave met Deanna, “in line for the bathroom at a beer party.” They were married in 1980, had a son Christopher, now 23, and two daughters, Katie 20 and Molly 13.
After brother Robert graduated from Chico, he joined Dave and became a partner at White Oak that today builds municipal parks throughout the East Bay. “Our first two original employees are still here. I don’t think we would still be in business without them,” Dave confessed. The company has since grown to 80 employees.
Dave and Deanna credit their church (Asbury) for the inspiration to contribute to Habitat for Humanity East Bay, not to mention the fact that, “when the Livermore project came up, it happened to be during a time when I had the good fortune to be able to help financially.” In addition to good fortune and the fact that the Freeda Court project was a development in his hometown, one of the reasons Dave gives to great causes like Habitat and his church is, “trust. You have to have that in spades,” he said. “I feel both happy and privileged to give. But I really need to know the money is going where it will make a difference.”
