By Barbara Kern
This is the season of giving and Brenda Wade and her real estate team have focused on giving back to the community in small and large ways, year after year, season after season. They have given over $65,000 in the last seven years through their ‘Partners in Giving’ events, plus additional giving exceeds $10,000 annually to other local charities.
Brenda believes in giving back where she lives and works and said, “We are so fortunate to live in a great community and if everyone gives a little, no one goes without.”
One of their favorite ‘giving back’ events of the year is their ‘Partners in Giving’ fundraiser. Brenda and her team just hosted their seventh annual ‘Partners in Giving’ event where Brenda and her agents spent a day learning from business associates who donate money to the chosen charity.
Brenda matches every dollar the business partners contribute so together they have a larger impact in the community. The Brenda Wade Team wants to be the most knowledgeable and giving team in real estate and work together with like-minded companies and individuals to give back to our community.
Brenda said, “Our goal was to exceed the $12,600 amount we raised last year, and we were so very excited to raise and donate $18,000 divided between two local charities, Seeds of Hope, Inc. and LifeCare.”
Seeds of Hope has been in the Brandon/Valrico/Lithia community for over nine years and began with local resident Leda Eaton helping her then high school students receive meaningful community service hours. That was the beginning of the FishHawk Turkey Trot and from that Seeds of Hope was created to use the money generated to help alleviate local hunger.
The organization has maintained its original commitment to providing meaningful community service for students but has grown as an organization to combat hunger in three ways by providing weekend backpacks of food for school children, boxes of food to families on Thursdays and a weekly mobile pantry aimed at short term food relief.
Eaton is proud of the impact the charity has had, saying, “Before Hurricane Irma, we were a food relief organization. After Hurricane Irma, we added disaster relief to our resume. It’s not something I ever would have planned but am so thankful we were there. Larger organizations with cumbersome rules and regulations couldn’t do what we did. We targeted the people who needed/deserved help, took people shopping for personal items, provided daily hot meals, washed clothes and provided showers. So many volunteers stepped up. It was amazing to be a part of the overwhelming groundswell of community support.”
For more information, visit www.sohopefl.org.
LifeCare, now called Choices, is all about babies, so this ministry is near and dear to Brenda Wade’s heart, as she and her husband have been beyond blessed with two grandbabies this year. LifeCare of Brandon/Choices has served families in the Brandon community for over three decades. They reach out to families in the midst of pregnancy decisions with compassion, help and hope.
They have worked with thousands of families over the last 32 years supporting them in their pregnancies, childbirth, parenting and life skills. They educate each person who comes in for a pregnancy test on abortion, adoption and parenting. All of their services are free, confidential and available to everyone.
Their pregnancy medical clinics are named CHOICES with locations in Brandon and Ruskin. These clinics are where families receive free pregnancy tests, limited ultrasounds and ongoing support.
hey work with families throughout their pregnancy and until their baby is a year old teaching them about healthy pregnancies and positive parenting. They also provide support to the 43 percent of women who have experienced the heartbreak of a past abortion because they believe healthy families create healthy communities.
They envision a culture where women and men faced with pregnancy decisions are transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and empowered to choose life for their unborn children and abundant life for their families. For more information, please visit www.EmpoweredToChoose.net.
Brenda is so very thankful to this year’s ‘Partners in Giving’ business partners for serving her clients all year long and graciously pulling alongside she and the team in support of the people served by Seeds of Hope and LifeCare/Choices: Adela’s Pro Cleaning Service, All American Title, Brian Hodgers of Complete Choice Insurance, Chad and Bill Kalgren of Kyzo Unlimited LLC Painting & Pressure Washing, Couture Painting, Gonzalez Roofing, Hank and Mary Lobdell of Radiant Property Inspections, Hillsborough Title, Janelle Weeden of Old Republic Home Warranty, Joel Meek of Meek Insurance Group, Jon Howard of American Mortgage Service Co., Marie Gilmore of the Osprey Observer, Mike Yeager of Buyer’s Choice Home Inspection, Patrick Latimer and Erica Guthrie of United Mutual Funding Corp., Pilka & Associates, P.A. Law Firm, Rory Weiner, P.A. Law Firm, Terry Beamer of CertaPro Painters, Todd Martin of Guaranteed Rate, Trease Sinclair of Suddath Movers and The Rice Financial Group. A HUGE thank you to our business partners!
Brenda Wade and her real estate team love this community and the privilege of working throughout the year to support the many charitable organizations and ministries that assist people who need a hand up.
