Charity and Volunteer Work.
I consider it a blessing to have the capacity to assist others. Besides monetary donations, my favorite donations are volunteer oriented, when time allows.
Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity (www.habitat.org)is an excellent non-profit organization that builds homes in low-income areas. The purchasers of these homes get large discounts as long as they meet certain requirements, one of which is volunteering a significant number of hours to the building of their home or another in exchange for the discount. We at Coldwell Banker raised money, in addition to a team of us "building for a day" under close guidance from the "experts" who donate their time at a fraction of the cost of labor. It was a fulfilling day, indeed. "She's meticulous"--The words of my on-site mentor.
We'll be doing Habitat again this spring, feel free to email me if you'd like to donate time or money - tax deductible, of course.
Harvest For the Hungry
My office spends several months every year collecting food for the hungry in Maryland. In addition to the collection box at our office, several of us-including me- post ourselves at local grocery stores for several weekends, collecting food from generous shoppers. With our office and the contributions of the community, we were able to deliver several truckloads of food to the Maryland Food Bank.
Specific People in Need
I'm always interested in doing local charities. If you know of someone in need, feel free to contact me with information.
In October 2005, I sponsored and promoted a charity "Battle of the Bands" for a local child, Christopher, who was diagnosed with a spinal disease and quickly incapacitated. The event was held at "Steamin' Blues" in Derwood, MD with 10% of proceeds going to the family to help with medical bills and 10% off food and drinks, live music, raffles and a dunk tank-It was a blast for a good cause. (Currently, little Chris's recovery is excellent.)