Editorial
Front Page - Friday, May 28, 2010
Keller Williams lends a hand to Room in the Inn
David Laprad
Associates from the Chattanooga area Keller Williams Realty market centers were among the more than 25,000 Keller Williams team members across the U.S. and Canada that participated in the second annual RED Day on May 13. RED Day is a community service initiative in which Keller Williams associates take the day off to give back to their communities. Local agents chose Room in the Inn as the recipient of their efforts.
- David Laprad
Associates from the Keller Williams Realty Downtown, Hixson and East Brainerd market centers were among the more than 25,000 Keller Williams team members across the U.S. and Canada that participated in the second annual RED Day on May 13.
RED Day, which stands for Renew, Energize and Donate, is a collective community service initiative in which Keller Williams associates take the day off to give back to their communities. All Keller Williams offices nationwide were closed to encourage participation in the event.
Members of the Keller Williams offices in the Chattanooga area chose Room in the Inn as the recipient of their efforts. Room in the Inn is a residential program for homeless women and children. Services are provided free of charge and include transitional housing, three meals a day, access to affordable or free health care, life skills training, parenting classes, mentoring, assistance with finding affordable housing and case management services. The 24-hour-a-day program offers the women and their children stability, thereby increasing chances for independence once they leave the program.
Wearing red t-shirts sporting the words, “Give Where You Live,” more than 120 local agents worked at four residences to help spruce up the outside of the homes. Some of the tasks involved deferred maintenance items such as painting porches, staining decks, repairing fences, installing outside lights, pressure washing, preparing vegetable gardens and planting flowers.
Erin Creal, executive director at Room in the Inn, said the Keller Williams associates did a remarkable job.
“They secured all the supplies, equipment and manpower it took to landscape the properties that permanently house our graduates. Everyone wants their home to have curb appeal, and our clients are no exception. Chattanooga Room in the Inn is so blessed to have had Keller Williams choose us for RED Day!”
In addition to the maintenance projects, Keller Williams hosted a meal to celebrate the end of a productive and successful RED Day.
Last year, the inaugural RED Day was one of the largest collective community service events in real estate history, with Keller Williams associates performing more than 130,000 hours of service work in one day.
“As busy as our lives are, it’s important to turn off the phone, step away from the office and give back to the communities that support our agents and offices,” said Mark Willis, CEO of Keller Williams, in a press release. “We feel fortunate to have associates that don’t see this as a dollar lost in a day off from work, but much more gained in the community.”
“Our culture is what defines us as a company, and part of that means taking time to remember what’s most important: our communities,” said Mo Anderson, vice chairman with Keller Williams. “I’m so proud to see how our associates have adopted RED Day and are making an incredible difference across North America.”
“When we decided to move forward with RED Day, we were thrilled that our associates embraced the day with such excitement and tenacity. They have truly shown us what community is all about,” said Mary Tennant, president and Chief Operating Officer with Keller Williams.
On the company’s Facebook page, many Keller Williams offices from around the country shared their plans for RED Day. Some of these included: joining forces with Habitat for Humanity in Woodbridge, Va., to build a home; creating a community vegetable garden and pumpkin patch with assistance from the parks and recreation department in Syracuse, N.Y.; cleaning up beaches in Redondo Beach, Calif.; teaming up with police and local businesses to remove graffiti and repaint buildings in Toronto, Canada; and offices in Atlanta, Ga., Phoenix, Ariz., and Bernardsville, N.J., holding food and blood drives.
In a company-wide letter following RED Day 2010, Anderson expressed her gratitude for the associates who took part in the community service initiative.
“I joined members of the Oklahoma City Northwest market center in putting on a carnival for kindergarten through fifth-grade children who live and attend school there, because they are either homeless or have been removed from their homes. Witnessing the happiness on the faces of these children who have been through so much was a reminder of the resiliency of the human spirit and what a gift it is to serve joyfully.
“There could not have been a better way to celebrate my birthday, which was the day before on May 12. I’m forever grateful to you for your generous spirits that have demonstrated in hundreds and hundreds of communities throughout North America that it is in giving that we receive.”
Founded in 1993, Keller Williams has 668 offices and more than 76,000 associates in the U.S. and Canada. The company, which began franchising in 1990, has an agent-centric culture that emphasizes access to education and promotes an economic model that rewards associates as stakeholders and partners. The company also provides specialized agents in luxury homes and commercial real estate properties.
For more information about RED Day 2010, visit www.kw.com/redday.
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