Keller Williams’ Red Day
When Keller Williams’ Red Day – its annual and national day of service – was set for Thursday, May 12th, the kwELITE Kearney team early on decided what they wanted to do.
They opted to come to the aid of a local couple in need. The husband recently had a massive stroke, and as a result, they had properties that needed some care.
“They have multiple properties that have not been cared for as they were self-managing. She has had to have him in Lincoln as no one in our area can do a two-person lift for his care. She works and their business was in a mess,” Broker/Owner Wendy Kreis said. “We went and did property clean-ups on two of their properties so they did not have to hire anyone. We had lunch as a team after.”
The Kearney crew got to work early, starting with a trip to Menards to get the necessary materials, water, Roundup, contractor trash bags and sunscreen.
“Everyone brought their own gloves, Wendy and Ben had rakes and shovels and then Brandon brought some little hand saw power tools. Once we got to the first property we pulled weeds, sprayed the beds, and raked and raked and raked all the leaves in the yard and threw those into trash bags,” Operations Manager Ashlyne Svoboda said. “Brandon went to town cutting down large overgrown shrubs and volunteer trees. By the time we were done at the first property we had 18 contractor bags of weeds, and leaves and a pile of sticks up to your shoulders.
“The second property we focused on picking up trash that had blown into the trees surrounding the property. Wendy cleaned up/shoveled the trash enclosure, and Brandon tackled the volunteer trees and random bushes that had popped up throughout.”
Realtor Hannah Washington said the team put in a lot of hard work into the clean-up effort, but stressed it was extremely rewarding helping the couple.
“I felt very satisfied knowing that the hours we spent picking up this yard would be appreciated,” Washington said. “It’s that feeling I’m sure everyone gets when they’re able to help a stranger – Just that warm-hearted feeling!”
It was also an opportunity for the kwELITE Kearney team to bond, though giving back to the community is something they strive to do all the time.
“The Kearney community has always supported us over the years so it’s always a great feeling when we get to give back. To me, it’s a great chance for our team to work together. While we are an office team, we don’t always get to work together because they’re individual agents and separate transactions,” Svoboda said. “I love working in an office where that is encouraged and supported. Whether it is Red Day through Keller Williams, or any other Thursday we are always supported to get out and give back.”
Kreis said it was a special day, adding she’s appreciative of her team and the support of the Kearney area.
“We had a wonderful time together serving, laughing, and appreciating that if we had manual labor jobs we would all be more buff for sure,” she said. “It was rewarding to see the end results and knowing that we were able to take a burden off of Lynette.”
Written by Matt Lindberg, VRLY Columbus