The real estate brokers of RE/MAX Town Square in New Ipswich have banded together to raise funds and collect food for the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry in Greenville.
The New Ipswich office’s parent company challenged its local offices this year to stock their local food pantries with food drives, and local brokers were immediately on board.
Now more than ever, associate broker Becky Lehtonen said, the need is great.
“It’s a need in the community,” Becky Lehtonen said. “People are suffering right now.”
“I don’t think you can do anything better than reach out to the community where you live,” said RE/MAX Town Square Manager Dean Deschenes.
As an additional part of the program, local offices were encouraged to submit a video highlighting their volunteer efforts at their local food banks, for the chance at an additional cash prize of $6,000, $4,000 or $2,000 for their local pantry. The New Ipswich office snagged third place in that contest, netting a $2,000 prize for the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry.
That cash donation can go a long way – through state food banks, each dollar donated to local pantries can purchase as much as $10 worth of food.
“So that $2,000 donation grows, exponentially,” broker Sandy Lehtonen said.
In addition to the prize winnings, the RE/MAX Town Square team also purchased five shopping carts of food donations for the pantry, as well as arranging a community food drive to collect additional donations, all of which have been given to the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry, located at the Sacred Heart Church in Greenville. The pantry serves New Ipswich, Mason and Greenville.