Julie Jenkins, Broker/Owner of EXIT Realty Twin Bridges, Brokerage in Sarnia, ON, has been building with Habitat for almost a decade and felt it was important to put together a team to support Habitat for Humanity Sarnia-Lambton as an office. Habitat Sarnia-Lambton is a non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating poverty housing and to making adequate, affordable housing a matter of conscience and action.
“The pandemic has left us challenged for a fun way to raise funds. We decided that since our local small businesses were struggling right now we wanted a way to give back to them as well. We did a few gift basket bundles of gift certificates to local business. Each member of our build team chose their favourites to support. We asked people to donate on the Habitat fundraising webpage for our team and for each donation they got one ballot in the draw,” Julie 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. This is the second Habitat for Humanity home build for Julie and her team in almost five years. This time they raised $2,625 which EXIT’s head office was proud to match, for a total donation of $5,250 for Habitat for Humanity Sarnia-Lambton.
“Thank you for joining us in our mission to improve our community by providing affordable homeownership as a housing option for local families,” said David Waters, Chief Executive Officer of Habitat for Humanity Sarnia-Lambton. “Habitat homeownership not only transformationally changes the lives of local families, but helps to make our community stronger. Because of the support and generosity of our donors, Habitat for Humanity Sarnia/Lambton has moved 61 families into homeownership since 1994. I want to assure you that your donation is being put to good use for important work. The success of our ReStore is such that 100% of our administrative and operational costs are paid, so excess profits are channeled directly into our build programs.”