Community Affairs – 'Giving Back'

Happy New Year to all of our fellow Realtors & Affiliates! 2021 was another strong year for listings and sales for all of us and we truly have so much to be grateful for. Our new Community Affairs Committee, Sandy Laserte, Peggy O’Neill and Brian Gehlich have decided that it is more than appropriate for our committee theme for this year 2022 to be “giving back”. 

We will be sharing information about how to get involved with different organizations and community betterment efforts each month. You can become more involved with our communities by joining an organization or by simply contributing a small donation.  We all gave so incredibly generously this past year! SCVBR distributed $17,000 to the following: Winhall & Stratton Community Food Shelf, Manchester Community Food Cupboard, Neighbor’s Pantry in Londonderry, GBIS (Greater Bennington Interfaith Community Services), Jamaica/Wardsboro Community Food Pantry, Pawlet Community Church, Arlington Food Shelf.

There are still some voids that need to be filled.  This month we would like to introduce our effort to help with items that are not covered by many food assistance programs and are in very high demand. These programs are used for food and cannot be used for necessary household items such as toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, shampoo, soap, etc. The SCVBR Community Affairs Committee has started a new program to help with this.  Both TPW (Manchester and Bondville offices), Mountain Realty and RE/MAX will have outdoor boxes visibly placed for item drop-off.  Items delivered to these boxes will be distributed weekly to the local food banks. What to donate? Paper towels and laundry detergent currently top the request list.  However, any items that one typically uses in the bathroom, the laundry room or the kitchen are welcome so long as they are unopened. 

Those who drop-off goods will be anonymous. A small donation of a roll of paper towels or a bottle of dish soap, etc., could really make a difference in someone’s life and it is so simple to do with our conveniently placed locations.  Let’s see if we can get everyone to donate at least one item to our new cause in 2022. 

We will be distributing to the Winhall & Stratton Community Food Shelf, Manchester Community Food Cupboard and Neighbor’s Pantry in Londonderry.  Any agent or agency wanting to join in this cause in their area can contact us for more information. 

Tune in next month to learn more about ways you can make a small difference by joining a local club or organization!