In a profession that already brings community together, real estate agents know the importance of lending a helping hand, especially in difficult times. Through acts of service both big and small, agents are able to make lasting impacts on their communities – without focusing on sales.
While practicing social distancing measures, agents are finding creative ways to give back and help those in need. Here are a few ways they’re doing just that:
Providing free Wi-Fi
Outside of the office or classroom, many people are left without access to the internet. To solve that problem, Melissa Miller Fedrizzi, an agent with RE/MAX In Motion in New York, is providing free Wi-Fi in a community center parking lot. In doing so, members of her hometown are able to work, complete school assignments, or check emails from the safety of their parked cars.
Miller Fedrizzi came up with this idea in an unusual way. At this year’s RE/MAX R4 convention, she was inspired by a session to ask a stranger for $100 – the idea being that when the stranger turns you down, you learn how to face rejection and tackle uncomfortable conversations. She randomly asked Steve Junker, an agent with RE/MAX Beyond 2000 in Ohio, for $100, and to her surprise he said yes. When Miller Fedrizzi wanted to give back to her community, she used that $100 as seed money to jump-start her Wi-Fi initiative. As RE/MAX agents around the network have heard her story, they have reached out to help fund upcoming months to keep the parking lot Wi-Fi going.
Supporting the Class of 2020
With school years ending virtually, graduation ceremonies postponed or canceled and no prom to dress up for, high school seniors are left without many of the defining moments of their final year of school. One Texas brokerage wanted to let their local seniors know their accomplishments matter even though their high school careers won’t be ending in the traditional way. RE/MAX Signature Properties in Sherman, TX, started fundraisers for the class of 2020. Their local community raised money to purchase gift cards to local businesses and sent them in handwritten notes to nearly 700 graduates of two local high schools.
Hosting a blood drive
An Illinois brokerage recently hosted a blood drive in their parking lot, inspiring agents and community members to donate blood through a mobile donation bus run by a local blood center. Their efforts resulted in saving over 50 lives in the Rock River Valley area.
Organized by RE/MAX Property Source, the event was so successful that managing broker Tom Humpal is already planning their next upcoming blood drive.
Sewing face masks
Marcia Rubini, an agent with RE/MAX Preferred Associates in Ohio, has been sewing face masks for frontline workers and members of the community to protect themselves. With the help of a sewing machine, Rubini has already crafted more than 400 masks, using hair elastics for ear straps.
She has donated all of her creations to medical staff at nearby hospitals and medical centers, family, friends, and residents of a local nursing home. When people ask to pay her for a mask, she suggests they donate that money to charity instead.
Making food accessible
To ensure no one goes hungry, Alice Penner, an agent with RE/MAX Real Estate Results in Arkansas, gave business to a favorite local restaurant while putting dinner on her community’s tables. She purchased 50 family-style meals for her clients, who were given the option of keeping it or donating it to a family in greater need.
As a result, the restaurant was able to provide an extra 200 meals to children in need.
Appreciating frontline workers
In the Philippines, a brokerage is choosing to give back to the brave workers running the strained healthcare system. RE/MAX Valor generously offered a beautiful vacation house in Antipolo City for the use of the frontline workers, saying that in a time when all sectors were feeling pain, the least they could do was have the backs of the healthcare workers.
Funding it forward
Who doesn’t love a game of trivia? Janice Rosenberg with RE/MAX United in North Carolina is giving back by first having fun. Each Tuesday, Rosenberg posts a light-hearted question (e.g., What is your favorite Disney movie?) and asks her Facebook followers to submit an answer. After selecting a winner, she donates to a charity of their choice. Every week, the office also provides a catered lunch to an “essential worker of the week.”