Putting Abuse Out of Commission...

A home should be a place of safety, security and comfort.  Sadly, for thousands of Canadian women and children this is not the case.  

Because my own home is a place of safety, security and comfort, I do appreciate how fortunate I am.  Because I am a mother of three adult daughters who do have a strong support system,  I could never imagine them ever feeling that  there was "no place to go for help."  Domestic abuse and violence cross all economic and social lines.  It could be happening in your very own neighbourhood.

When I was deciding which real estate  brokerage to align myself with, one of the things that impressed me about Royal Lepage was the company's philosophy in the importance of giving back to the community, and in particular, this foundation.

Royal LePage is the only Canadian real estate company to have their own charitable foundation.  Royal LePage is also the largest public foundation in Canada dedicated exclusively to supporting shelters and ending violence against women and children.  Funds raised by the local Royal LePage offices remain in their local community and because Royal LePage pays the costs of administration, 100% of all money and effort goes toward the cause.The Royal LePage Shelter Foundation helps local shelters provide a safe haven and new beginnings for more than 30,000 women and children annually.  Every year, more than $1 million is donated through agent contributions, brokers and fundraising activities of the Royal LePage network.

One of the fundraising activities is  the annual National Garage Sale for Shelter.  This year it will be held on Saturday, May 14th, 2011. 

We are just starting to plan our Henderson office's garage sale and at this point I'd ask that if you are or will be clearing out clutter in your home to consider donating your gently used items to our sale.  We'd like to start collecting when it warms up a bit...maybe the beginning of March?  We will have trucks out and about around that time so it would not be a problem to have your donations picked up.

So I'll keep you posted as more information is available, but I do want to leave you with a video of the song: "We'll Be There".  It was written by Royal LePage agent, David Roney, inspired by the story of a woman who needed to turn to a shelter. 

I'm here for YOU.


~Ciao