Real estate professionals Melissa Lovett, Dillon Thompson, Kim Ellis, Charisse DeCalongne, Jonah Mumphrey and Blake Fowler, Broker/Owner of EXIT Realty Group in Baton Rouge, LA, participated in the Crawfish King Cook-Off earlier this year to raise money for Big Buddy. Big Buddy is a local non-profit youth agency that provides role models and quality learning experiences to over 500 disadvantaged youth weekly. For 40 years Big Buddy has provided youth with positive adult role models through mentoring programs, character education and leadership sessions, after school programs, holiday camps, summer enrichment programs, and workforce development programs.
“I have been involved at a board level since 2017 and have watched hundreds of kids be transformed by the impact a mentor makes. I believe that the value of real estate is directly proportional to the quality of life a person can experience in the community they live. If we have groups of people who do not have opportunities to create a better life and the choice to take advantage of those opportunities, we all suffer. I believe that one-on-one mentorship can change the lives of people who see something better for themselves,” says Blake.
Crawfish King Cook-Off is a team crawfish boil where thirty teams, ten at each site, compete for the title of “Crawfish King”. The event was held at three venues across the Baton Rouge and Gonzales area as a fundraiser for Big Buddy.
“We offered six pounds of crawfish to three hundred of our past clients, friends, and influencers as a thank-you for their support. This method had never been done before, and as a result, we had over two hundred of the six hundred total participants that came to support the cause. Each of our agents donated $1,000 to the organization,” Blake explains.
A portion of every transaction fee received by EXIT Realty Corp. International is applied to its charitable fund. Through the Spirit of EXIT Dollar-for-Dollar Matching 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. Blake and his team hoped to raise $6,000 which EXIT’s head office was proud to match, however they raised $6,225 for a total donation of $12,225 to Big Buddy.
