Ottawa REALTORS® donate over $100,000 to local charities
December 20, 2016
Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB) contributed over $100,000 to the Ontario REALTORS Care® Foundation this year, the largest amount OREB Members have ever contributed to the Foundation. With this large amount, 26 shelter-related charities in the Ottawa-area received a grant this month – just in time for the holiday season.
The funds were raised through the Board’s annual charity golf tournament, the “$2 per Member per month” campaign, where every Member contributes $2 a month, and the RONA Card program, where a percentage of sales by OREB cardholders gets donated to the Foundation.
“We as REALTORS® are a very visible part of our communities. You see our For Sales signs and our bus benches everywhere. It is where we live and work, so it goes without saying that we have a deep sense of caring and compassion for our communities,” says new Ottawa Real Estate Board President, Risk Eisert. “These grants are a small gesture to help out local charities who work so hard to make a difference. We are very proud of our affiliation with these charities and wish them well with their great work.”
Each and every one of these charities assist those among us who do not have adequate shelter; those who may be dealing with homelessness, addiction, mental or physical illness, spousal or familial abuse, physical disability, poverty, or aging. The work these organizations do is essential to the well-being of our community, but it is often difficult and stressful work, and there is never adequate funding available from public sources for equipment, staff, and infrastructure. These grants are a way of recognizing their valued work in our community.
“This year, Members of OREB’s REALTORS Care® Committee visited two of the charities receiving grants – Options Bytown and the Youth Services Bureau,” explains Rachel Hammer, OREB Director and REALTORS Care® Committee Chair. “It gave us an opportunity to see firsthand how our grants will be used and to get a better sense of the great work each charity does in our community.”
The 2016 Ottawa-area grant recipients are as follows:
- Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa
- Bruce House
- Carleton Place and District Youth Centre
- Chrysalis House (WOCRC)
- The Door Youth Centre
- Eastern Ottawa Resource Centre
- Habitat for Humanity
- Harmony House
- Harvest House
- Hospice at May Court
- Jericho Road Christian Ministries
- LiveWorkPlay
- Maison d’Amitié
- Nelson House
- Options Bytown
- Ottawa Carleton Lifeskills
- Ottawa Rotary Home Foundation
- Parents’ Lifelines of Eastern Ontario
- QuickStart
- Rogers House
- Serenity Renewal for Families
- Shepherds of Good Hope
- St. Mary’s Home
- YMCA Youth Housing Program
- Youth Services Bureau
- Youville Centre
The Ontario REALTORS Care® Foundation is operated by the Ontario Real Estate Association, and provides grants to Ontario shelter-related charities. The REALTORS Care® Foundation is supported by Ontario real estate boards and associations, and their REALTOR® Members.
