December 10, 2020 0 Comments
By Sam Odrowski
To counteract the cold, Gould Team – Remax launched its “Share the Warmth” campaign, which is a hat and mittens campaign that runs until December 18th.
To date, over 200 items have been donated to the local office at 115 First Street, and more are always welcome.
Remax’s 16 offices in southern Ontario compete to see who can get the most donations. All donations go to the Good Shepherd Centers, which they distribute to homeless shelters and people in need.
“This initiative is three years old as a company, but it’s very competitive among offices as we all challenge each other to increase the most numbers per office,” said Jerry Gould, owner of the Gould team.
“It’s just good camaraderie … we all want to see who can raise the most.”
Every year the Gould team selects a different item to donate. The first year they donated new socks, and the last year they donated children’s books to children’s hospitals across Canada.
The Cambridge office usually collects the most donations as it has around 300 brokers. However, Mr. Gould noted that Orangeville agents are always close to first place per agent.
Agents challenge each other when making donations to outperform each other’s contributions, which keeps the donations coming in.
“I’ve called other agents from other offices and it’s really funny, I remember … we bought up Walmart, bought all their socks, there was no sock left on the shelf,” recalled Mr. Gould.
“We also cleared two dollar stores that the Gould team stripped of all their gloves, hats and scarves this year.”
He told the citizen, aside from the friendly competition, the agents enjoy knowing they are supporting a good cause, especially this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This year, more than ever, it is very, very important to donate as there is a greater need this year than ever before,” said Gould.
While not everyone in the Remax offices who takes the hat and mittens ride celebrates Christmas, everyone gets into the spirit of giving, he said.
Some of the Gould team’s customers knitted gloves and hats to donate. Anyone interested in supporting the initiative is welcome to visit their office (115 First Street) and drop off some items.
