Fifty-fifty draws helped raise part of the money. REALTORS® participating in a poker tournament helped raise another portion of the funds and then, to get over the $10,000 mark, Board President Rhonda Side ‘double-dutch dared’ all REALTORS to raise the additional dollars. Side knows how competitive REALTORS® can be and knew that they would all rise up to the challenge. In total, $10,120.00 was raised to help the Grande Prairie Real Estate Board hit their REALTORS Care®goal.
Through the efforts and generosity of the members of the Grande Prairie Real Estate Board an enduring fund named “The Grande Prairie and Area Association of REALTORS® Endowment Fund” has been set up.
All the money raised will go into an endowment fund and the interest is what will be donated to various housing related charities such as emergency shelters, Habitat for Humanity and low-income housing needs.
“We wanted the choice of charity to be tied to what we (REALTORS®) do,” said Rhonda Side. “And contributing to housing needs for those who cannot take care of themselves seemed like the most logical place to go.”
The Board of Directors of the Greater Grande Prairie Community Foundation decides – as per the Grande Prairie Real Estate Boards instruction – where the greatest housing needs are and that is where the money will ultimately be allocated.
According to Side, most every brokerage in the Grande Prairie area has contributed to the fund in some way. The intent is to continue contributing additional funds on an ongoing and annual basis and hope that this small gesture will truly make a difference at a difficult time in someone’s life.
Pictured above: Karen Bilodeau, EO, Rhonda Side, President GPREB and Owen Lewis, Chair and Tracey Vavrek Executive Director, Community Foundation of Greater Grande Prairie.
