Keller Williams Realty’s annual food drive has been an annual event for 21 years. Joel Fisher, the Keller Williams Realty food drive coordinator, said the collection started as a way to connect to the community and has evolved into a traditional event.
Every fall, agents distribute 57,000 donation bags to numerous neighborhoods in Austin. Residents are given about a month to fill the bags with healthy, nonperishable food items for the Capital Area Food Bank.
“It’s our way of helping people and giving back to the community where we live,” Fisher said.
Each year, the Keller Williams Realty participants try to out-do themselves for an extra nonperishable item.
Agent Melondie Gentry said she and her husband have tied the food drive to a community pumpkin patch to encourage neighborhood bonding while collecting donations for the Capital Area Food Bank. Within her own service area, Gentry said she distributes about 2,400 bags for donations.
“Our neighborhood appreciates it so much,” Gentry said. “They want to help, and the pumpkin patch makes it not only easy, but fun for them, too.”
Linda Ramsey, the compliance director for the Keller Williams Realty Southwest Market Center, has participated in the food drive since its start-up in 1993. In addition to collecting more food donations each year, the event has created a bond among the participants, Ramsey said.
“It’s a very good community builder within the company,” she said. “The agents enjoy working together and giving back to those who don’t always have enough to eat.”
The Capital Area Food Bank of Texas relies heavily on community donations to provide food resources for nearly 46,000 Central Texans each week in 21 counties.
Starting a food or fund drive is easy with the downloadable coordinator’s kit that provides everything needed to host a successful event. Learn more about hosting a Food & Fund Drive.
