Realtors with Vernon’s Royal LePage Downtown opened their hearts and their wallets ahead of the holidays to donate more than $9,000 to feed hungry kids in the community.
This is the second year Royal LePage Downtown raised funds in support of the Kalamalka Rotary Club Starfish Pack Program and even amid a global pandemic, the Realtors surpassed last year’s donation of around $6,000.
“At the end of the day, the message I got from our people is it’s been a brutal year on a lot of people and taxing in different ways,” managing broker and owner Monty Davis said.
Davis said as for the real estate business, like everyone else, business came to a halt in the spring with the first wave of COVID-19 and the provincewide restrictions but things began to change in the following months.
“Each individual, unless you were selling Lysol wipes, was thinking, ‘what are we dealing with,’” Davis said. “In real estate, the market came roaring back. It put us in a place for us to try to do what we could and help this program out.”
The reason this program is popular among Realtors with Royal LePage, Davis said, is because it involves a local program and children.
On Dec. 10, in a very simple exchange — “a cheque in an envelope,” Davis said. “Nothing too flashy.” — Royal Le Page Downtown contributed a total of $9,650 to the Starfish Pack Program.
The Starfish Pack Program provides children in need by sending approximately $16.50 per week, or six meals, in each weekend backpack donated to more than 100 Vernon families. It costs $575 to feed one child for the year, the program’s website reads. To learn more about the program, or to donate, visit starfishpack.com/vernon.
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Caitlin.clow@vernonmorningstar.com
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