Spreading Holiday Cheer this Season

Our Windermere offices really love the holiday season. It’s a time when they can get together to collect food, host holiday events, and raise money to help those in need in their communities. From putting together Thanksgiving meals, to hosting food drives and auctions, our agents really get into the spirit of giving. Here are just a few of the events taking place throughout our network during the holiday season.

Jump Into the Holidays Bazaar

On November 19, the Windermere Kelso/Longview office hosted its first holiday bazaar to benefit the Windermere Foundation, to provide support to local non-profits in the community that serve low-income and homeless families. More than 20 vendors participated in the bazaar, offering items to purchase for holiday giving. Over $1,300 was raised at this event.

Thanksgiving Meals for Dorothy House

For the past 15 years, brokers from the Windermere Bellingham-Bakerview, Bellingham-Fairhaven, Birch Bay-Blaine, and Lynden offices have gotten together to provide the ingredients to put together full Thanksgiving meals for Dorothy House, a local safe housing community for domestic violence victims. This year they assembled 24 meals for Dorothy House, which has 22 apartments for women and children.

Woodinville Winterfest

For over 10 years, the Windermere Woodinville office has hosted a holiday event at its office featuring photos with Santa and refreshments. This year, their annual event was a part of the November 27 Woodinville Winterfest and included a Woodinville Wine Country wine and beer garden, and local bites. Cash and toy donations were collected for The Forgotten Children’s Fund.

An Evening with The Great Gatsby

This past month, the Windermere Stellar offices in Vancouver, Washington hosted their fourth annual live and silent auction to benefit the Children’s Justice Center. Nearly $200,000 was raised at this event. Through the Windermere Foundation, over $481,300 has been donated to the CJC over the past four years, which has helped them expand their family outreach and support program.

Windermere Wreath Fundraiser

The Windermere Ellensburg office is holding its second annual wreath fundraiser. Fresh 24-inch wreaths handmade by Snowshoe Evergreen can be purchased from the Windermere office from November 28 until supplies last. All proceeds benefit the Windermere Foundation, to assist local non-profits that provide services to children in need in the Ellensburg area.

16^th Windermere for Kids Event

Since 1998, brokers from the Windermere Bellevue, Bellevue South, Bellevue West, Issaquah, Redmond, and Yarrow Bay offices get together to hold a “Windermere for Kids” event in lieu of a company Holiday party. With help from local non-profit organizations, 100 children in need between the ages of 7 and 12 are selected to participate. Each child receives a $225 gift card to Target and is partnered with a broker who helps the child select gifts for members of their family. And a gift for each child is purchased as well. The gifts are then taken to wrapping stations that are manned by Windermere brokers. While the children wait for their gifts to be wrapped, there are photos with Santa, crafts, food and beverages to keep them busy. Almost $250,000.00 has been donated throughout the years.

Free Santa Photos & Dickens Carolers

The Windermere Northlake office hosted its annual holiday event on December 3, featuring free photos with Santa and Dickens Carolers. Food donations are collected each year to benefit Hopelink, a non-profit social service agency that provides services to families in need in North and East King County, WA.

Windermere Stellar Lloyd Tower Silent Auction

The Windermere Portland – Lloyd Tower office is hosting a silent auction benefiting the Windermere Foundation on December 8. This night market will be full of gifts to bid on, including wine bundles, dinner parties, sporting events, gift certificates,  and more.

8^th Annual Spaghetti Feed/Auction

Hosted by the Windermere Snohomish office on December 10, this fun community event features live music while Windermere brokers cook and serve the meals. Tickets are $10 for a full dinner with dessert. Proceeds benefit the Snohomish Food Bank.

Mercer Island Youth and Family Services Holiday Program

The Windermere Mercer Island office will host its 19^th annual event for Mercer Island Youth and Family Services on December 12. The office gathers wished-for gifts and delivers them to MIYFS, which serves hundreds of local families.

3^rd Annual Food Drive for Contra Costa & Solano Counties

From October 1 through December 15, agents from the Windermere Walnut Creek-Diablo Realty and Windermere El Sobrante offices are collecting food for the Food Bank of Contra Costa & Solano Counties. Nearly 100 agents will collect food donations during this drive. The food bank serves 188,000 people each month and distributes over 50,000 pounds of food every day. Last year, these offices collected nearly 1,000 pounds of food. They hope to surpass this number this season.

Windermere Professional Partners Holiday Food Drive

Each year, the Windermere Professional Partners offices in North Tacoma, Central Tacoma, University Place, and Gig Harbor hold an annual food drive  to support a local food bank. All four office locations serve as donation drop-off sites, and agents also distribute paper bags throughout the community for the public to fill and bring in donations. This year the drive will support FISH Food Bank in Gig Harbor, as well as Families Unlimited Network in University Place.

5^th Annual Gingerbread House Contest

The Windermere Wailea office is hosting its 5th Annual Gingerbread House Contest to benefit the Windermere Foundation. Drop by their office in the Shops at Wailea to view all the gingerbread houses created by the office’s agents and their families, and cast a vote for your favorite one. Voting ends on December 20. Ballots submitted will be entered into a raffle drawing for a $100 gift certificate. For every live/in-person vote cast in the office, a dollar will be donated to the Windermere Foundation.

Thank you to everyone that supports the Windermere Foundation. Through these events, drives, as well as a variety of other fundraisers held by our offices throughout the year, the Windermere Foundation is able to continue to support non-profit organizations that provide services to low-income and homeless families throughout the Western U.S.

If you’d like to help, please consider donating to the Windermere Foundation. To learn more about the Windermere Foundation, visit http://www.windermere.com/foundation.