‘Share the Warmth’ campaign progressing well this year, over 200 items donated so far

December 10, 2020 · 0 Comments

Written By SAM ODROWSKI

In an effort to combat the cold, Gould Team – Remax launched its “Share the Warmth” campaign, which is a hat and mitten drive that runs until Dec. 18.

So far, over 200 items have been donated to the local office, located on 115 First Street, and more are always welcome.

Remax’s 16 offices in southern Ontario are competing against one another for the hat and mitten drive to see who can get the most donations, and all the donations are going to Good Shepherd Centres, who will distribute them to homeless shelters and people in need.

“This initiative is three years old with us now as a company, as a whole, but it’s very competitive amongst the offices because we all challenge each other to raise the most numbers per office,” explained Jerry Gould, owner of Gould Team.

“It’s just good camaraderie… we all want to see who can raise the most.”

Each year, Gould Team chooses a different item to donate. The first year they donated new socks and last year they donated books for kids to children hospitals across Canada.

The Cambridge office typically raises the most donations, since it has around 300 agents, but Mr. Gould noted that per agent, the Orangeville realtors always come close to first place.

Agents challenge each other when dropping off donations to top one another’s contributions, which keeps the donations coming in.

“I’ve called out other agents from other offices and it’s really funny, I remember… we bought out Walmart, bought up all their socks, there was not a sock left on the shelf,” Mr. Gould recalled.

“We also cleared out two dollar stores, the Gould Team did, this year, of all their mitts and hats and scarves.”

He told the Citizen, apart from the friendly competition, the agents enjoy knowing that they’re supporting a good cause, particularly this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This year more than ever, it’s very, very important to donate because there’s a greater need this year then there has ever been in history,” Mr. Gould stressed.

While not everyone at the Remax offices, participating in the hat and mitten drive celebrates Christmas, everyone gets into the spirit of giving, he said.

Some of the clients at Gould Team have knitted mittens and hats to donate and anyone interested in supporting the initiative is welcome to visit their office (115 First Street) and drop some items off.