By Shelley Low, Broker/Owner of EXIT Realty Home & Ranch in Durango, CO
Last year we did a <Spirit of EXIT initiative> to raise money for the Archuleta County Senior Center to find a new location. Our Pagosa Springs team got extremely involved with the board of the senior center and after reviewing the money we raised, realized they have bigger issues if they wish to continue to operate. We are now on their finance committee and helping in many ways.
One is to work within our town and county to create a rate reduction in their rent which will allow them to stay in the location they are in for a while. Our eventual goal is to find and purchase a new location, however, for now, survival is most important. For this reason, in addition to what we are already doing, we also hosted a Kentucky Derby Fundraiser with all NET proceeds going to the Archuleta County Senior Center.
This hopefully will allow them to stay in place, continue to feed the senior community (approx. 3,400 meals per month) with meals on wheels, social interaction, classes such as senior yoga and stretching, card games, and most importantly checking on those that are housebound.
We had dancing with live music, the Kentucky Derby on a big screen TV, lots of food (most prepared by our EXIT brokers), mint juleps of course, a big hat contest, and tons of auction items with a live auctioneer.
A portion of every transaction fee received by EXIT Realty Corp. International is applied to its charitable fund. Through the Spirit of EXIT Charitable Program, EXIT offices and associates can raise money for local, approved, registered charities and apply to EXIT’s head office to have those funds matched from the company’s pool of funds. Shelley and her team hoped to raise $5,000, which EXIT’s head office was proud to match, however they greatly exceeded their goal and raised an astounding $12,057.53 for a total donation of $17,057.53 for the Archuleta County Senior Center.
“We just wanted to personally extend our gratitude for going above and beyond with the generous contribution of their time, dedication, and attention to detail that made the Kentucky Derby Spring Fundraising Event a success. The kindness and compassion shown by your associates in raising funds will assist our organization with our ongoing Senior Programming,” said Rosa Chavez, Executive Director, Archuleta Seniors, Inc.
