Loaded down with tools, work gloves and safety glasses, at 7:30 am yesterday morning I met up with about 15 other Realtors at a modest home in our community. After a brief introduction by our site captain about safety and the list of projects we were to complete, everyone put on their gloves and got right to work.
Our mission:
- Rip out the old, rotted side porch and build new one
- Build and install two crawl space doors
- Scrap old paint off of front and side metal railings and steps
- Paint
- Spruce up garden if time permitted
The ripping out of the rotten wood did not take long but we were not prepared for what we found underneath: 6-week old kittens, a dead rat, an old tire and a rather unpleasant smell!
It turned about that the homeowners cat had a litter of kittens. One of the Realtors was able to catch all 4 and took them to a local pet store who had agreed to find them homes! While not on our list, this showed the kindness that prevailed all day.
Our site was just one of 22 homes being fixed up during "Realtor Care Day" in the Charlotte/Lake Norman area. Over 700 members volunteered. We were assisted by physical inspectors and contractors who supplied their expertise when needed.
A homemade lunch was donated by a local church. We were able to share much of it with the neighbors who stopped by to see what in the world was happening at their friend's home! Our homeowner was an elderly woman who had volunteered for 30 years in the community and had lived her entire life in either this house or the one next door. She was quite a character; entertaining us with stories and even a joke or two!
Despite an unusually hot spring day of 90 degrees, we were able to complete all of our assignments and much more.
Some of the Realtors worked hard in the garden and even purchased bales of pine straw out of their own pocket.
Two other brave gals cleaned out the crawlspace. There were jars of pickles and various other foods that were so old looking that we figured the crawlspace hadn't been cleaned in 50 years!
We were hot, tired and dirty but felt great. Not only had we finished our original list and added to it, but we had brought some fun and good food to the neighborhood and particularly our delightful homeowner Barb!
From what I understand, the Charlotte Region Realtor Association is going to try to make this an annual event. I hope so!
I have never been prouder to be a Realtor than I was yesterday. Despite our own challenging financial times, 700 of us were out in our communities working hard to make those less fortunate's lives a little brighter!
If any of you would like to put on a Realtor Care Day or can share about your Realtor efforts to give back in your communities, please share them with us. If we can compile a list of everyone's ideas perhaps we can encourage more to try to make a difference during these tough times. It's so nice to have something positive to share about us Realtors!
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I love this! Great work! On top of being a proud Realtor, I hope you felt like a proud, caring human being as well.