Realtors Chip In For Nonprofits

By Mary Tess F. Edu
Wednesday - July 22, 2009 Share

E-mail this story | Print this page | Comments (0) | Archive | RSS

By Mary Tess F. Edu, President
The Locations Foundation

The Locations Foundation has committed itself to enhancing the lives of disadvantaged Hawaii families and children by supporting a wide range of community programs through volunteering time and donating money since its inception more than 20 years ago.

As the not-for-profit organization of Prudential Locations, Hawaii’s largest locally owned and operated real estate agency, The Locations Foundation is made up entirely of real estate agents and staff. We currently have 140 members who donate 1 percent of their income to the foundation, and last year alone they contributed more than $100,000 to worthy charities.

Because it is not exclusive to helping a single cause, The Locations Foundation partners with several local Hawaii charities such as Boys & Girls Club, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Hawaii 3R’s, Project Visitation and Easter Seals, to name a few. This year we are supporting 24 different nonprofits, all with the mission of helping families and children in our community.

Locations Foundation members (front) Mary Tess Edu, Corrinda Wong and Lisa Knott are joined by volunteers (back) Alexis Perreira and Nicholle Omayas to donate school supplies in their signature red backpacks

We are now in the eighth year of our signature Backpack to School event, and to date have donated nearly 3,000 backpacks stuffed with school supplies to homeless and less-fortunate children across the state. The Locations Foundation members initially bought all of the backpacks and supplies themselves, but last year we opened it up as a community drive. The amount of crayons, pencils and notepads we received was astonishing and enabled us to give to more children than ever before.

Hearing the joyous laugh from a keiki to whom we have given a backpack or getting a hearty hug from a mother for whose family we helped build a new home - it’s little moments like this that I have the privilege of experiencing as president of The Locations Foundation. Even my own three kids are experiencing the rewards of giving back to the community. After volunteering with me at various events, they now seek out ways they can help others, such as donating clothes and toys that they no longer use.

To me, this is “proof positive” that The Locations Foundation is making a constructive and optimistic difference for generations to come.

We are always looking for worthy causes that fit our mission of helping families and children in our community. If you have a suggestion for an event or organization that we should consider partnering with, please contact me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Hawaii charitable organizations may send requests for space in either Proof Positive or the free advertisement below to dchapman@midweek.com.