Windermere offices close for business every year in June to participate in Community Service Day, an annual tradition since 1984 where our agents, staff, and franchise owners spend the day volunteering in their communities. We’ve gathered a handful of stories to share a glimpse of what Community Service Day 2022 looked like around our network.
Windermere Real Estate Professionals – Boise, ID
With inflation soaring, the Windermere Real Estate Professionals office in Boise, Idaho identified a food drive as a way to make a positive impact in their community for this year’s Community Service Day. Partnering with the Windermere Boise Valley office, they ran a food drive for two weeks, resulting in 520 pounds of food donations to the Idaho Food Bank. Seven staff members participated in food delivery and volunteered at the food bank to package 2,100 pounds of pinto beans to be distributed out into the community. For every one dollar raised, the Idaho Food Bank was able to provide four meals for community families in need.
Windermere Portland-Lloyd Tower NE – Portland, OR
The Windermere Lloyd Tower office showed up in strong numbers for a city-wide cleaning project in Portland, Oregon. Working with SOLVE, a local organization dedicated to the restoration and preservation of Oregon’s environment through the mobilization of volunteers, they made their way through the city picking up trash and clearing debris.
Windermere Northwest Living – Vancouver, WA
Windermere Northwest Living in Vancouver, WA has close ties to local Fruit Valley Elementary, a school whose foundation they have donated food to in the past. The office held a food drive to support students in need facing food insecurity, gathering over $3,000 in food donations. For the first time since 2019, the students were able to receive the donations in person. Windermere Northwest Living followed up the food drive with a donation to the school’s foundation from their brokers, staff, and clients totaling $12,000.
Windermere Northern Colorado – Fort Collins, CO
Deeply involved in supporting the housing needs of their community, Windermere Northern Colorado found the perfect partner for their Community Service Day efforts in Neighbor to Neighbor, an organization providing sustainable housing, supportive services, and education to Larimer County, CO locals. A group of agents and staff gathered to build handicap-accessible raised garden beds to support the residents’ gardening and sustainable food practices.
Windermere Lake Oswego – Lake Oswego, OR
The COVID-19 pandemic has put added pressure on households already experiencing domestic violence; a truth that is not lost on the Windermere Lake Oswego office. Accordingly, they sought to support local women and children facing these issues by partnering with Clackamas Women’s Services, an Oregon City-based organization providing critical services to domestic and sexual abuse survivors and their families. Members of the Lake Oswego office spent the day volunteering at a soon-to-open CWS shelter that will support survivors in their program and provide them a safe place to stay. Windermere agents and staff donated food and toiletries, sorted donations, cleaned windows, and swept floors to get the shelter ready to open its doors.
Windermere Northwest Living – Longview, WA
Windermere Northwest Living in Longview, WA focused their community service efforts on two local organizations—Lower Columbia School Gardens and Habitat for Humanity—with a variety of gardening and planting projects. Agents and staff divided into two groups: one group pulled weeds, pruned trees, and prepared garden beds for Lower Columbia students’ classes, while the other laid sod, built a deck, and laid flooring for the Habitat for Humanity project.
Windermere Bozeman – Bozeman, MT
Over in Montana, the Windermere Bozeman-Downtown office was hard at work supporting Eagle Mount, an organization that provides recreational opportunities for people with disabilities and young people with cancer. Agents and staff helped Eagle Mount set up for “The Western Rendezvous,” the organization’s largest annual fundraiser consisting of live and silent auctions. The Windermere volunteers set up tables and chairs and hung decorations in preparation for a successful event.