Since the holiday season is upon us, we thought it might be appropriate to give a quick update on Residential Properties charity endeavors.

A few weeks ago, we blogged about the Woonsocket Adopt-A-Family. The group provides gifts and toys to children of needy families, and two Residential Properties agents―Sandra Soares and Janice Geddes―are actively involved. Their goal is to deliver a message of hope to those youngsters who might not get to have a traditional holiday celebration, and we think this is an admirable aim.

While the organization has matched 1,400 children with donors this year, they are still in need of volunteers to provide for the remaining 472 children. If the group cannot find additional volunteers, this will be the first time in nine years that they have had to turn families away. If you would like to help bring the holidays to those less fortunate, contact Sandy Soares at ssoares@residentialproperties.com

The RPL Providence office is also getting in on the holiday giving. For the past four years, the office has worked with the Salvation Army on Broad Street to bring gifts to children in need. Organized by agent Sandy Conca, the office has delivered almost everything requested in years past, and looks forward to doing the same in 2011. If you would like to contribute to this initiative, contact Sandy Conca at sconca@residentialproperties.com

The holiday season seems to be rushing in on us. For some it’s a great time, but for others it can be tough because the economy has taken a huge toll on their resources. That’s why we think it’s a necessary task to be involved in community projects. This year, we want to acknowledge Sandra Soares, an agent in our Cumberland office, for her work with the Woonsocket Adopt-A-Family. We think that giving back is of great importance, and we’re proud that Sandy has been associated with the organization since 1989. A past president and current Treasurer of the Board of Directors, Sandy has served as Program Coordinator since 1999.

Adopt-A-Family, Inc. is a non-profit Rhode Island corporation whose mission is to provide Christmas to needy children in Woonsocket. The agency was started in 1983 by a group of volunteers, and has been a popular local charity in Northern Rhode Island ever since. In 1992, the Woonsocket Adopt-A-Family began keeping annual records. Since then over 30,000 children have been provided for in a city where 35% of children under the age of six live below the poverty level.

Annually, the organization receives applications from nearly 1,200 families in Woonsocket. The last eight years they have been successful in providing for 100% of those eligible. In 2010 the group produced presents for over 2,200 kids from more than 1,000 families—that’s roughly 100 classrooms of children. Each year, they are able to bring approximately $325,000 worth of goods into the city through donations, which mainly consist of toys, clothes, and donations. The organization also raises approximately $20,000 per year to purchase items for children without assigned donors.

As normal but especially this year, Adopt-A-Family is in need of donors and volunteers. Many of these families’ parents are out of work, or working but in school trying to make a future for themselves and their children. Their budgets are stretched to the point of breaking, and some have.

Adopt-A-Family welcomes and is searching for those who can to join them this year as volunteers and contributors. The organization also works in tandem with the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, which is another way to help out this holiday season.

For more information contact Sandy Soares at ssoares@residentialproperties.com.

My Residential Properties family is very diverse and the holidays have a significance for many members of the group.  The act of giving back to the community is something I have always  encouraged and today was the delivery day for such an act.  Ed Hardie led a caravan of cars as we transported gifts to the  Salvation Army as part of our participation in the adopt-a-family program.

This year our Providence office agents contributed to 10 families who needed assistance in making the holiday a festive occasion. The Salvation Army on Broad Street is the conduit we used. My dear friend, Sandy Conca, led the drive in our office and helped organize the getting of gifts. She got assistance from several other agents and managers, and the office responded with a conference room full of gifts.

As you may have seen in an earlier Blog post here, Sandy Soares in our Cumberland office has been involved in the adopt-a-family in the Woonsocket area. Her efforts as an officer of the group and her role in organizing were immense. They had 1118 families and 2310 children in their program this year. She also led the drive in the office to sponsor a family, and she and Janice Geddes spent the past week working with the group to distribute the gifts to the 1100 families.

Our Barrington office’s drive helped two families from Warren’s Woman’s Resource Center for the season. The program was organized by Becky Bishop and Marlene Manchester.

And in East Greenwich, our agents took a more cerebral approach by donating mostly new and some slightly used books for ages up to sixth grade. Marlene Robinson organized that drive which delivered over three large boxes of goods to the London Bridges Pre-School and to the East Greenwich Public Library for use.

The generosity that I see this year is especially pleasing given the state of the economy. I thank my agents from the bottom of my heart and wish everybody a very merry and healthy New Year!

Though I am usually busy with Real Estate on a daily basis, I am very busy this time of year with my extracurricular project – Adopt-A-Family, Inc. It was started by a group of volunteers and has been a favorite local charity in the Northern Rhode Island area since its inception. Our mission is to provide gifts of clothes and toys to children of needy families in Woonsocket during the holiday season.

The agency is an independent privately funded, non-profit organization founded in 1983. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit agency, making your donations tax-deductible. We are not part of a larger organization and only work in the Northern Rhode Island area.

Right now, we need your help!!

As of Friday, November 13, we have 637 families and approximately 1,340 children provided for through the efforts of our donors.

We have to date an additional 120 families waiting to be sponsored. Needy famlies can apply for assistance through November 20th so we anticipate another 300-400 applications before the application process is over.

The link above will give you an overview of the organization. If you feel like helping us, we will definitely appreciate it this year.

Our favorite time of year is fast approaching – the second week of December, which is Distribution Week for Adopt-A-Family, Inc. in Woonsocket.

For some of us, it’s an annual reunion with a couple hundred of our dearest friends; some we’ve known for 20 years and only see for one action-packed week in December.

Now in its 26th year of operation, Adopt-A-Family is a non-profit Rhode Island corporation whose mission is to provide Christmas gifts of toys, games & clothes for needy children in Woonsocket. Sandy Soares, an agent in our Cumberland office, has worked for Adopt-A-Family as Program Coordinator for many years and has been part of the organization since 1990.

Since 1992, 24,692 children have been provided for through the organization’s efforts in a city where 35% of the children live below the poverty level. In 2007 alone, they provided for 2,220 children…enough kids to fill 100 classrooms!

At the time of this writing, the organization has donors for 660 families but they are still looking for donors for an additional 350 families in need. Certainly this year has been a difficult one and many charitable organizations are seeing a big drop-off in contributions.

If you would like to help a family who might be right in your own backyard, contact Sandy Soares at 401.766.2291 ssoares@residentialproperties.com or adoptafamily@cox.net. The last date to “adopt” is December 1.

Photos by: Al Belisle

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