Royal LePage True North Realty raised over $7,000 at their 7th annual National Garage for Shelter at the Fort City Church on Saturday, May 9, 2015.
On the morning of the event, the agency’s staff, agents and volunteers were ecstatic to greet a long lined-up crowd and they were kept busy helping over a thousand residents with their purchases throughout the day.
The team also greeted customers and raised donations through their community barbeque and popcorn sales, as well as, encouraged residents to participate in raffle draws and special prize games.
Broker and Owner of Royal LePage True North Realty Marian Barry said she enjoyed seeing her colleagues have fun and the community come together for a great cause.
“We had so many people in our community take part to support the day’s event,” she enthused. “To the dozens of people who donated items to sell, to our volunteers who picked items up, seeing the community impact was incredible and my thanks goes out to everyone who helped us raise funding and awareness for our local women’s shelter.”
From leather couches to pristine items (still in their packages), thousands of goods were up for grabs and many buyers did second-round trips to purchase more.
“We had huge support from the staff at Matco Moving Storage, as they picked up large and heavy items for us the day before,” Barry said. “And I’m so proud of my staff and agents for making the event another annual success.”
With 100% of the proceeds going towards Fort McMurray’s Unity House, Executive Director of the Fort McMurray Family Crisis Society Michele Taylor shared how the funding from the local event directly impacts those in need every day, throughout the year.
“It’s an important part of our funding each year,” Taylor said. “The society receives over 1.5 million dollars annually from Alberta Human Services to run Unity House. In order to receive that money, we need to receive support from the community. So, this funding is not only important to our operations in itself, it also allows us to receive the government funding each year.”
The money raised from the garage sale will go towards paying for relocation to local women and children who need to move to another community where they have family support. It will go towards helping women transition from the shelter to a safe home of their own, including providing them with furniture and household items.
Furthermore, it helps pay for free trauma counselling and group recovery program materials for the women who come into the shelter for help.
According to statistics, half of all the women in Canada have experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual violence since the age of 16 and 360,000 children are exposed to domestic violence each year.
“Unfortunately, domestic violence is very common in North America,” said Taylor. “We find it in families – regardless of socioeconomic, or cultural background – and the public awareness of this event is so important because many of us are someone, or know someone, suffering from domestic violence.”
Taylor shared how raising awareness is most important to share with others who may need the help and the society appreciates all that Royal LePage True North Realty provides in raising funds and awareness.
“Royal LePage True North Realty is truly a partner of Unity House,” Taylor expressed. “From the garage sale to the baseball tournament, sponsoring Luv-A-Polooza, and all the donations it generates, they are helping Unity House make sure that when people reach out to us, we can reach back and help them find a safe future for them and their children. Thank-you is just not enough for what they do.”
Taylor further expressed, “It’s important for community members to know how to contact us, so that they can give the information to their neighbour, their co-worker or their friend when needed. And so that they know where to turn, should they need us themselves. The bigger the spotlight we can have on this social problem, the better chance we have of ending it.
Royal LePage is the only real estate agency in Canada with its own charity and its National Garage Sale for Shelter is recognized as the largest charity garage sale in Canada. This year’s nationwide event had 100 registered public garage sales take place and the total national amount will be announced in the upcoming weeks at www.royallepage.ca.
