Giving Back
This press release was sent out to the media today by the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board. My team believes in giving back to the community, from small daily random acts of kindness, to larger endeavours. Just this weekend, Lauren volunteered and ran in the 24 Hour Relay at Swangard Stadium with RE/MAX Retrax to raise money for Easter Seals, and two weeks ago Kim volunteered at the Plywood Cup on Granville Island to help raise funds for the Special Olympics, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and Small Talk. Even with busy schedules, there's always time to give back, and it's great to see the real estate community as a whole doing the same.
Greater Vancouver REALTORS® donate $1.2 million
VANCOUVER, B.C. June 17, 2008 – Greater Vancouver REALTORS® and their companies donated more than $1.2 million to 60 local charitable organizations last year, according to a recent examination of the charitable activity within the profession.
This revelation is the result of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver’s (REBGV) efforts to aggregate the annual monetary contributions its members give to charity each year. This is the first time a real estate board in the country has embarked on such a program.
“This initiative is a by-product of the work organized real estate is doing nation-wide, with the REALTORS® Care Foundation, to help administer and acknowledge the vast contributions REALTORS® make to their communities each year,” said REBGV president, Dave Watt.
“We know this figure likely only touches the surface, since many REALTORS® we contacted wanted their giving practices to remain quietly low-key and anonymous,” Watt says. “As well, our members give a tremendous amount of time volunteering in their communities, doing everything from coordinating the annual REALTORS® Care Blanket Drive to coaching kids’ sports.”
The Canadian REALTORS Care® Foundation was established in October 2007 by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) to streamline the collection, administration and disbursement of charitable donations and receipts across the country on behalf of real estate boards, associations and companies.
The Foundation does not engage in fundraising activities itself, but provides a singular framework for people involved in the real estate profession to utilize.
To collate these contributions, Greater Vancouver real estate offices were asked to share information about their charitable donations in 2007. REBGV staff identified $1,215,685.54 donated by 70 offices to 60 different charities during 2007.
