REALTORS Care®: Another year of going above and beyond for our communities

REALTORS® are huge community supporters. Every day, our members are out volunteering their time, money and passion for the local and national charities close to their hearts.

The Canadian REALTORS Care® Foundation is dedicated to inspiring, supporting and sharing their charitable achievements. By spreading the word about the generosity of REALTORS® from coast to coast, the Foundation aims to recognize their good works, while at the same time shining the spotlight on their charities of choice and inspiring others to follow their lead.

One example of REALTORS®' generosity was exhibited in the wake of the devastating floods in Southern Alberta in June 2013. Within just a few minutes of launching a plea for donations on the REALTORS Care® website, REALTORS®, brokerages, real estate Boards and Associations from across the country were pledging their support. By the end of our fundraising campaign, together we had raised a total of $246,842 for the victims of this disaster.

This past year, the Foundation wanted to find out just how much REALTORS® gave and raised for charity in 2012 so we could share this amazing news on a national level with organized real estate, the general public, the media, and decision-makers on Parliament Hill. We put out a call to all REALTORS® to report their donations and fundraising totals.

Thanks to the members, brokerages, Boards, Associations, and franchisors who agreed to share this information with us, we can say that REALTORS® across Canada have reported raising and/or donating more than $30.6 million for charity in 2012.

It bears mentioning that this total includes an astounding $21-million donation made by an individual REALTOR® on behalf of his family in support of the BC Cancer Foundation. In addition, they reported donating over 20,247 pounds of food, 132 frozen turkeys, 3,000 pounds of pet food, over 1,800 gift baskets, 30 units of blood, 1,600 books, over 700 toys, more than 200 mittens and other cold-weather accessories, and one trailer, planting 50 trees, filling over 70 bags of garbage when cleaning up their communities, delivering over 8,600 bundles of daffodils, and serving over 1,200 free lunches.

Now that another year has come to a close, the Foundation is asking REALTORS® to report their 2013 donation and fundraising totals. There's a simple form you can fill out on the Foundation's website. The more REALTORS® who do so, the better we can demonstrate just how much REALTORS® show they care. While you're on the site, check out some of the incredible and heart-warming stories about what your fellow REALTORS® are doing to make their communities and this country much better places to live. Over 100 new stories were shared by individual REALTORS®, brokerages, Boards, Associations, and franchisors in 2013. Please share yours in 2014!