All In, For Community Amid COVID-19

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Over the past few weeks, as the effects of COVID-19 have spread to everywhere Windermere has offices, we have seen an outpouring of support from our agents and offices in their local communities, embodying what it means to be All In, For You. 

The Bellevue, WA-based Windermere Real Estate East Inc. offices have been all in for their community in recent weeks by organizing “Feed the Front Lines.” This effort has raised upwards of $9,000, with many members volunteering their time to help pick-up and deliver much-needed meals to the medical professionals at a local hospital. So far, they have scheduled six shifts of lunch and dinner deliveries, totaling 415 meals. They have reached out further into the community, collecting donations for local small businesses that have been forced to close.

Windermere agent Chris Gaines—based in Boise, Idaho with the Windermere Powerhouse Group—was inspired to deliver food and other necessities to the elderly in his neighborhood. Chris and his family spent the day visiting local grocery stores and gathering supplies to make care packages. After divvying everything up, they safely delivered the care packages to neighbors, who were sincerely grateful. “It was clear by the excitement of some of them that we were the first to have visited since all of this began,” said Chris of his neighbors.

In other cities where Windermere operates, such as Palm Springs, agents are volunteering to buy and deliver groceries for the local elderly population who are currently unable to leave home due to the threat of COVID-19.

On Maui, the local Windermere office is routing Windermere Foundation donations to a local food bank. On top of that, they will provide that same food bank with a donation from each closed home sale over the next 60 days. Agents on Maui are also volunteering to prepare grab-and-go breakfast and lunch meals for kids at the Kihei Charter School.

In Nevada, the mother-son team of Reba St. Clair & Devone Donley are providing delivery services free of charge to their neighbors throughout the Lake Las Vegas area. They are picking up prescriptions and performing food deliveries, making themselves a dependable resource to their community.

The Seattle-area offices that make up Windermere Wall Street recently donated $2,000 to Refugee Artisan Initiative (RAI) to aid in the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE), such as surgical masks. RAI’s mission is to transform the lives of refugee and immigrant women by providing sustainable work in sewing and handcrafting goods.

As our agents and offices have proven time and time again, together we can make a difference. We will continue to share these uplifting stories of support for our communities through the COVID-19 pandemic.

All In, For Community. All In, For You.

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Windermere Foundation Has Raised Over $1.5 Million This Year!

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Windermere offices throughout the Western U.S. have been busy raising money and making donations to non-profit organizations in their local communities that provide services to low-income and homeless families. And their efforts are paying off; so far this year we’ve raised over $1.5 million, bringing the total raised by the Windermere Foundation to $39.5 million since 1989.

 

Here are just a few examples of how our offices are giving back to their communities:

 

Fort Collins, Colorado

The Windermere Real Estate office in Fort Collins held its 5th Annual Windermere Foundation Tailgate Party on Friday, September 20. The family-friendly event featured food, drinks, a bouncy house obstacle course, corn hole, face painting, and live music. Over $1,800 was raised for the Windermere Foundation during this event. All proceeds from the tailgate “party with a purpose” benefitted Partners Mentoring Youth and Crossroads Safehouse.

 

Centralia, Washington

The Windermere office in Centralia, WA sponsored the “Down Home: A Toledo Shindig” event held at Bonanza BBQ on September 14 to benefit Toledo School District students in need. Local businesses and residents came together to donate auction items, food, and volunteer their time. Windermere owner Dan Gorton spearheaded the organization of the fundraising event, seeing a need in the community that was not being met. The Gortons provided the venue and the BBQ. Other sponsors provided additional food items, entertainment, and big-ticket items for the auction. The event raised $34,000 for a fund to help provide basic needs for students in the school district, things that low-income families couldn’t otherwise afford.  

 

Photo Courtesy of Josie Ray Photography

 

Spokane, Washington

The Windermere office in Spokane, WA held their annual Windermere Shoes and Socks Event at their local Big 5 sporting goods store on August 24. Windermere agents and family members volunteered their time to help 132 children select a pair of shoes and socks. An additional 250 pairs of socks were also donated by Liberty Lake Rotary. In total, the Windermere office donated over $5,400 to provide shoes and socks to local children in need.

 

 

Windermere offices are proud to host events in their communities, like the ones mentioned above. These generous donations to the Windermere Foundation further our mission to support low-income and homeless families in the areas where we live and work. If you’d like to help support programs in your community, please click the Donate button.

 

To learn more about the Windermere Foundation, visit WindermereFoundation.com.

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Caring for our Communities through the Windermere Foundation

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Posted in Community and Windermere Foundation by Marilou Ubungen 

 

Windermere offices have been busy this year raising money for the Windermere Foundation which provides funding to support low-income and homeless families throughout the Western U.S. Last quarter alone, the Windermere Foundation collected over $308,236 in donations, bringing our total to $38,314,364 raised since 1989 when the Windermere Foundation first started.

 

Each Windermere office has its own Windermere Foundation fund account that they use to make donations to organizations in their local communities. These accounts are funded by donations from owners, agents, staff, and the community, and from donations through Windermere agent commissions. The Windermere Hillsboro office in Oregon, and Windermere Coeur d’Alene Realty in Idaho, are two great examples of how our offices go above and beyond to support their local communities.

 

Windermere Hillsboro

Earlier this year, the Windermere Hillsboro office donated $1,500 to the Hillsboro School District’s McKinney-Vento program, a program which ensures that students who face housing instability and hardship have access to public education, despite the lack of a fixed living environment or a supervising parent or guardian. There are 20,000 students in the district and more than 400 of those students face housing instability. Every school district in Oregon has at least one designated McKinney-Vento Liaison. The Hillsboro School District has a team of three that works tirelessly to support each student and their families with rental and utilities assistance. If there is housing stability at home, then those students are more likely to stay in school.

 

The Windermere Hillsboro office also made a $5,000 donation to Community Action, whose mission is to lead the way to eliminate conditions of poverty and create opportunities for people and communities to thrive. The donation will go towards programs that help approximately 26,000 individuals and families: Energy Assistance, Early Childhood Development, Family Development, and Housing Stability.

 

Windermere/Coeur d’Alene Realty

In March, Windermere/Coeur d’Alene Realty, which has offices in Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, and Hayden, was recognized as the Best Real Estate Office by The Business Journal of North Idaho in their “Best of 2019” awards. This is the ninth year-in-a-row that they have received this honor. The brokerage was also named Idaho’s Brightest Star for their philanthropy and community involvement. Through the Windermere Foundation, they have given back nearly one million dollars to local charities and humanitarian agencies in Kootenai County, and more than 11,000 warm winter boots to local children in need.

 

Thanks to our agents, offices, and everyone who supports the Windermere Foundation, we have been able to make a difference in the lives of many families in our local communities. This year we celebrate the Windermere Foundation’s 30th anniversary with a renewed year-long focus on giving back, doing more, and providing service to the communities that have made us who we are.

 

Our goal for 2019 is to raise over $40 million in total donations. If you’d like to help us reach this goal, or learn more about the Windermere Foundation, please visit WindermereFoundation.com.

 

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Windermere Foundation: Celebrating 30 Years of Giving

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Posted in Windermere Foundation by Shelley Rossi 

 

 

Giving back has always been a big part of who we are at Windermere. In the early days of our company, it was pretty simple; we would see a need and help any way we could. But as we grew, we realized we could accomplish much more if we had a common purpose. That’s how the Windermere Foundation was born.

A big idea

We started with an idea that would give every Windermere agent the ability to make a difference. Housing is our business, so helping homeless families seemed like a natural fit. We later expanded that to include low-income families, with an emphasis on helping children.

Every time a home is sold

For the past 30 years, a portion of every Windermere agent’s commission has been donated to the Windermere Foundation. Having 100% participation gives us a common purpose and sends a powerful message about our commitment to the community.

Who we help

Last year alone we provided funding to more than 500 organizations throughout the Western U.S. Homeless shelters, food banks, schools, hospitals, community centers, parks; the list goes on. The main thing that they all have in common is a deep devotion to helping our neighbors in need.

How we help

Our agents have proven time and time again how committed they are to making their communities a better place to live. Their generosity funds backpacks full of food so school kids don’t go hungry on the weekends. They help keep families in their homes by covering housing costs. And their donations make sure the homeless are getting their most basic needs met, and the dignity that goes with it.

Thank you

If at any point during the past 30 years you’ve bought or sold a home using a Windermere agent, you are a part of the Windermere Foundation too, and you’ve helped make a positive difference in your community. And for that, we thank you on behalf of everyone at Windermere.

If you would like to learn more about the Windermere Foundation, please visit windermerefoundation.com.

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Windermere Foundation Has Raised over $1,500,000 So Far This Year!

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Thanks to the generosity of Windermere agents and the community, the Windermere Foundation collected over $1,537,000 in donations through the third quarter of 2017. This is an increase of nine percent compared to this time last year! Individual contributions and fundraisers accounted for 62 percent of the donations, while 38 percent came from donations through Windermere agent commissions. So far, we have raised a total of $34,643,324 in donations since 1989.

 

Each Windermere office has its own Windermere Foundation fund account that they use to make donations to organizations in their communities. Year to date, a total of $1,179,202 has been disbursed to non-profit organizations dedicated to providing services to low-income and homeless families throughout the Western U.S.

 

One organization that has been the recipient of Windermere Foundation funds is SafeHouse of the Desert. Safehouse of the Desert provides a “safe” residential environment for children between the ages of 11 to17 years of age. These young people are the victims of physical and emotional abuse, homeless runaways, victims of human trafficking, emotionally unstable home environments and various other unsafe situations. The facility shelters the children from perpetrators and offers education, therapy, artistic expression, coupled with training for future jobs, skills and coaching in being responsible and making wise choices.

 

The 16 Windermere Homes & Estates offices  in Southern California (Alpine, Big Bear, Del Mar, Escondido, Fallbrook, La Jolla, Palm Desert, Palm Valley, Plaza at Aviara, Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Bernardo-The Plaza, Santaluz, Scripps Ranch, South Carlsbad-Aviara, Temecula, and Trilogy) pooled their funds together and donated $5,000 for SafeHouse’s emergency shelter. They presented the donation check to SafeHouse on October 11, where they also spent the day cleaning, landscaping, organizing storage rooms, and providing breakfast and lunch at Harrison House, the 15-unit complex located behind the shelter and houses its transitional living program.

 

When asked why they chose this organization to help, Selina Sullivan, Regional Administrator for Windermere Homes & Estates said, “We recognize that the youth of today represents the future adults of tomorrow. Asking ourselves what we would want that future to look like, we realized that by contributing to this organization, we were impacting that future and contributing to the welfare of ALL children. In a world that is often covered in darkness, we wanted to serve as a beacon for others and to contribute to future generations.”

 

 

Generous donations to the Windermere Foundation over the years have enabled Windermere offices to continue to support local non-profits like SafeHouse of the Desert. If you’d like to help support programs for low-income and homeless families in your community, please click on the Donate button.

 

To learn more about the Windermere Foundation,

visit http://www.windermere.com/foundation.

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