SEATTLE, WA USA – Each December, LuxuryRealEstate.com pulls together to help the less fortunate during the holiday season. From coat and shoe drives to supporting local shelters to purchasing food and gifts for families in need and more, bettering the world is important to the company and is a cornerstone of the Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate membership as a whole. This year, LuxuryRealEstate.com matched employee donations to the charities of their choice.
Employee donations ran the gambit, from local community support to international aid. The charities that received holiday donations include Seattle-Sihanoukville Sister City Association, Mary’s Place, American Civil Liberties Union of Washington State, Electronic Frontier Foundation, International Rescue Committee, Foundation to Decrease World Suck, George Pocock Rowing Foundation, Surfrider Foundation, Experience Music Project, Highlands Church, and Ronald McDonald House Charities.
“As a company we value each and every cause that our team cares about,” said John Brian Losh, Chairman and Publisher of Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate. “That’s why we want to give our support to the charities that are close to the hearts of our employees.”
Membership Manager Kelly Lewis serves on the board of Seattle-Sihanoukville Sister City Association (SSSCA), which develops programs to strengthen cultural, educational, healthcare, and commercial ties between the people of greater Seattle and Sihanoukville in Cambodia, and was the first beneficiary of LuxuryRealEstate.com’s matching donation. “It makes me feel good to be able to help others and to put a smile on someone’s face,” said Kelly. “One of my goals in 2015 was to make a difference in someone else’s life and through SSSCA, I’m able to do that and much more.”
Local Washington state charity recipients include Mary’s Place, the ACLU of Washington, and Experience Music Project. Mary’s Place empowers homeless women, children, and families to reclaim their lives by providing shelter, nourishment, resources, healing, dignity, and hope in a safe community. Working one-on-one with over 2,000 local families to empower themselves to move beyond their circumstances, Mary’s place also provides food and shelter to over 100,000 individuals per year. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Washington State is a local chapter of the national organization dedicated to defending and expanding civil liberties and civil rights for all people. The Washington ACLU is one of the strongest in the United States, with a membership base exceeding 20,000. Experience Music Project (EMP) is a non-profit museum and their annual fund helps transform young lives through music and arts, with resources committed to cultivating creativity for at-risk-youth, providing arts training for teachers, creating hands-on workshops for kids of all ages, and hosting a number of music camps to enrich lives.
Who's Who in Luxury Real Estate is an international network and many of the employees’ donations were focused as such. Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading nonprofit organization defending civil liberties in the digital world, working to ensure that rights and freedoms are enhanced and protected as society’s use of technology grows. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) was also the recipient of a respectable donation, which will go towards restoring health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people across the world who have been displaced by conflict and disaster. Originally founded by Albert Einstein, IRC works in over 40 countries around the world. The Foundation to Decrease World Suck, another beneficiary of LuxuryRealEstate.com’s matching donations, is a zero overhead foundation that raises money for several non-profit organizations across the globe, focusing on advocacy, education, and health for youth. Most of the funds are raised during a yearly “Project for Awesome” event where thousands of people upload and vote on YouTube videos to promote charities, with the top voted organizations receiving the highest donations.
The George Pocock Rowing Foundation (GPRF) was the recipient of another donation this month. Founded in 1984 to honor the legacy of boat builder and rowing philosopher George Pocock, the Pocock Foundation works to promote full access to the sport at all levels and supports the largest youth rowing outreach and scholarship initiative in the United States in partnership with the Seattle Public School system and USRowing. The Surfrider Foundation is dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world’s ocean, waves, and beaches through a powerful activist network. With one foot in the sand and the other in the water, Surfrider is the only non-profit organization that is 100% focused on the coasts.
Highlands Church strives to be a lighthouse of hope, acceptance, and belonging for individuals with special needs and their families. LuxuryRealEstate.com's matching donation will go towards running a number of events, classes, support groups, weekly social gatherings, and fun for people of all ages with special needs. Last but not least, the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RHMC) aims to create, find, and support programs that directly improve the health and wellbeing of terminally ill children while simultaneously supporting their families during difficult times. With local chapters in 60 countries and regions, RHMC served nearly 5.7 million children and families in 2014.
About LuxuryRealEstate.com
LuxuryRealEstate.com, frequently ranked ‘Best Website’ in consumer and industry surveys, has been recognized for excellence by the WMA Awards and the Webby Awards and has been voted ‘Best of the Web’ by Forbes magazine multiple times. Since its debut in 1995, LuxuryRealEstate.com has remained the #1 portal for luxury properties on the internet and has several times more $1,000,000+ content of any near-peer.
Known in the industry since 1986 as the Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate network, a global collection of the finest luxury real estate brokers in the world, this group of more than 130,000 professionals with properties in more than 70 countries, collectively sells in excess of $190 billion of real estate annually. Members are selected by Chairman/Publisher John Brian Losh, one of REALTOR Magazine’s 25 Most Influential People in Real Estate and broker of fine properties through his Seattle-based brokerage firm, Ewing & Clark, Inc.
The company has also been recognized by the Maggie Awards, received an ADDY Award for excellence in Web Design, ranked in the Inc. 5000 List and named as one of the 100 Fastest Growing Private Companies by the Puget Sound Business Journal.