Four walls and a roof don’t make a house a home, it’s the people and the love shared inside that defines homeyness.
That’s why CIR REALTY, a large brokerage in Alberta with 710 REALTORS®, decided to support two worthwhile charities that help make living situations more comfortable. In just over six months, more than $95,000 and more than 300 volunteer hours have been donated to the Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society (AARCS) and the Ronald McDonald House of Southern and Central Alberta as part of the 1forALL program.
“We initially thought to do something housing based, but in Calgary there’s a lot of affordable housing organizations who receive funding already, so we started to think outside the box and tried to determine what makes a home a home,” said CIR REALTY’s marketing manager, Kirsten Faverin. “When it comes down to it, family and pets encompass that and fill our homes with love. AARCS is one of the largest local non-profits in central Alberta and we chose the Ronald McDonald House because it’s often a home away from home for families going through difficult situations.”
The money has been raised mostly from REALTORS® who have pledged to donate part of their commission to the 1forALL program. Other funds have been raised through brokerage initiatives, such as golf tournaments, office-versus-office fundraising challenges and professional development events.
A special in-house accounting program was developed to help make it easy for REALTORS® to contribute automatically and an awards program was created to give them more incentive.
“That has created the most competition with our REALTORS® as they are trying to achieve these high levels of donations,” Faverin said. “We’ve put a lot of weight on the importance of giving back and you’re seeing it pay off with the results we’re getting.”
