Thirty years ago this May, Pam Coyne, Franchisee of EXIT Oceanside Realty in Wells, ME, lost her son to suicide. “I have been looking, as a company, for an opportunity to give back to the community along the lines of suicide prevention but I wanted it to be local or state wide,” tells Rick Coyne, Pam’s husband and Broker/Owner of EXIT Oceanside Realty of why they chose to support The Yellow Tulip Project.
The Yellow Tulip Project was created by a Maine teenager who lost two close friends to suicide. Their mission is to smash the stigma of mental health and help prevent suicide. “We are working with the local school system to plant yellow tulip hope gardens along with bringing in speakers for the students,” Rick says.
As an avid golfer and Chairman of the Wells Rotary Golf Tournament, Rick thought that would be a perfect way to bring the community together. On May 23rd they had 88 players participate in their golf tournament at the Old Marsh Golf Club.
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. Rick and his team of professionals hoped to raise $5,000 which EXIT’s head office was proud to match, however they exceeded their goal and raised $7,653.26 for a total donation of $12,653.26 to The Yellow Tulip Project.
“We are beyond grateful for Rick, the entire team at EXIT Oceanside Realty, and all of the people in the Wells community who participated in the 1st annual charity golf tournament. This is what community looks like! Every penny that we received will go towards bringing our message of hope, action, and stigma reduction to the Wells schools and community at large. There is so much work to do in this important space and together we can smash the stigma,” said Suzanne Fox, Executive Director of The Yellow Tulip Project.
