‘Tis the season to be grateful

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, many of us will reflect upon this past year and remind ourselves of what we are thankful for in our lives. It’s also a time when many of us get together and work towards helping those that have not been so fortunate. This season, our Windermere Real Estate offices and agents have been hard at work collecting food, clothing and other necessities to help out our neighbors in need. These are just a few of the activities taking place throughout our Windermere network…

The Windermere Prescott and Prescott Valley offices in Arizona helped collect and sort winter clothing for the homeless and families in need in the Greater Tri-City area at the annual Southwest Windermere Community Service Day on October 17. They sorted nearly 500 jackets, along with hats, gloves, socks, scarves, sweaters, pants, turtlenecks and shoes. Donated items were distributed through the First Congressional Church.

The Windermere Ballard office is collecting new and lightly used adult clothing and gear for The Bridge Care Center in Ballard, which benefits the homeless men and women in their neighborhood. Donations are being collected now through the end of November.

The Windermere Bellingham-Bakerview office is collecting donations of coats and blankets now through December 2^nd for the men, women and children of Whatcom County that are being helped at the local Lighthouse Mission. With the cold weather upon us, they are hoping to help fulfill the mission’s great need for warm clothing for the families they serve.

The Windermere Edmonds office raised nearly $11,500 and collected over 12,000 pounds of food which was donated to the Edmonds Food Bank.

The Windermere Federal Way office is collecting non-perishable food items for the Federal Way Multi-Service Center now through December 5^th. Donated items will be distributed through the Federal Way MSC food bank, which serves the Federal Way community in South King County, Washington.

The Windermere Kingston office is holding a Thanksgiving Food Drive for the Kingston Food Bank to fill their Thanksgiving baskets for local families. Donations can be dropped off at the Windermere Kingston office during regular business hours.

The Windermere Medford office has partnered with KDRV TV for the past 15 years on their coat drive for kids. Throughout the month of October, Windermere agents helped with picking up coats twice a week to deliver to the cleaners. They also sorted the coats into sizes and delivered them to the local schools. An estimated 2,000-2,500 new and used coats were distributed to schools (Head start through twelfth grade), with another 1,000 donated to local shelters. Additional coats will be purchased with funds through the Windermere Foundation, if the need exceeds the amount of coats collected.

The Windermere Mukilteo office participated in the 2014 Snohomish County-Camano Association of REALTORS Food Drive in October and collected over 4,600 pounds of food and over $1,000 in cash donations. Watch this time lapse video of Windermere Broker Bill Callahan deliver and unload over 600 pounds of food at the Mukilteo Food Bank.

Thirty-five Windermere offices throughout Oregon and SW Washington are holding their annual Share the Warmth Coat & Blanket Drive now through December 17^th. Click here for more details and a list of participating office locations to drop off donations.

The four Windermere Professional Partners office locations held a food drive the first half of this month to benefit The Families Unlimited Network Food Bank. The food bank provides at least a three-day supply of food for individuals and families of Pierce County. Donations collected will be delivered to the food bank a week before Thanksgiving.

The Windermere Shoreline office has a coat drive and food drive scheduled for November and December. Food donations can be dropped off at the Shoreline office for distribution to local food banks. Coats and clothing collected will go to local organizations such as Jacob’s Well.

The Windermere Stellar offices in Oregon recently pledged $2,000 through the Windermere Foundation to Oregon City’s Backpack Buddies, an organization that supplies backpacks full of food for low-income kids to take home over the weekend. The food is simply slipped into each child’s backpack during recess to prevent the kids from feeling embarrassed about receiving help. They are also holding a food drive for the organization, in addition to the $2,000 donation which will supply 500 backpacks.

Every year, the Windermere Whidbey Island-Oak Harbor office purchases winter coats and supplies for the women and children in their local area shelter. This year, 22 children will receive warm coats for the winter.

The Windermere Foundation is thankful for the continued support and contributions of our Windermere Real Estate offices, agents and staff, and for the generous donations made by those in our communities. If you’d like to learn more about the Windermere Foundation, visit https://www.windermere.com/foundation.