Community Action
The Vancouver Island Real Estate Board (VIREB) has a long history of giving back to the community. Each year, VIREB members volunteer time, energy, and resources to charities, service groups, sports organizations, and community events right across Vancouver Island. VIREB also donates funds to a wide range of groups and institutions. We are particularly proud of our bursary program that consists of $60,000 donations to both Vancouver Island University and North Island College.
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Recent Action - 2015
Campbell River Head Injury Society .
Parkside Academy Society .
Campbell River Women's Resource Centre .
Young Professionals of Nanaimo - All-Sport Challenge .
Ladysmith Resources Centre Association .
Lion's Venture Land Playground .
Cowichan Valley Basket Society .
Manna Society .
Cowichan Valley REALTORS® Support Syrian Refugees .
Big Bike and Stroke .
Arrowsmith Search and Rescue .
Driven to Give .
YANA Comox Valley .
Campbell River REALTORS® have donated $1,000 to the Campbell River Head Injury Society (CRHISS) to help provide support services for survivors of traumatic brain injury (TBI). The grassroots approach of CRHISS originates in a passionate belief that all individuals, including TBI survivors, have the right to determine their destiny.
Cowichan Valley REALTORS® have donated $2,000 to Parkside Academy in Duncan. Parkside offers educational part-time and full-time programs for children ranging from infants to 12 years of age.
REALTORS® in Campbell River have donated $1,000 to the Campbell River Women's Resource Centre (CRWRC). Established in 1983, CRWRC is a non-profit society providing peer support, poverty relief, agency referrals, and tax preparation for women and their children.
Nanaimo REALTORS® sponsored the Young Professionals of Nanaimo (YPN) All-Sport Challenge to the tune of $750. Proceeds from the event will go towards building a library for the Snuneymuxw First Nations as part of Steven Point's and Bob Blacker's "Write to Read" campaign.
Ladysmith Resources Centre Association (LRCA) has received a $1,177.02 donation from Cowichan Valley REALTORS® to help continue its good work. LRCA coordinates and provides services and information to residents of Ladysmith and surrounding communities.
REALTORS® in Parksville and Qualicum Beach are happy knowing that their $500 donation is being put to good use to improve and enhance the Lion's Venture Land Playground in Parksville.
The Cowichan Valley Basket Society has received a $515 donation from Cowichan Valley REALTORS®. This fantastic organization works tirelessly to ensure no individual or family in the Cowichan Valley goes hungry, either physically, spiritually or emotionally.
Manna Homeless Society has received a $500 donation from REALTORS® in Parksville and Qualicum Beach. Whether people are poor, weak, hungry, homeless, suffering from mental illness, aged, abused, or poverty-stricken in the Oceanside community, Manna Society is there to help.
Cowichan Valley REALTORS® recently donated $1,177.02 to the Cowichan Intercultural Society's Syrian Refugee Fund. The money will be used to help support Syrian refugees resettling in the Cowichan Valley.
Coast Realty Group Parksville and Royal LePage Parksville-Qualicum have raised $21.797 for Heart and Stroke Big Bike. Their team effort earned them an automated external defibrillator (AED), which they've donated to the Qualicum Beach Community Centre.
Arrowsmith Search and Rescue have received a $613 donation from Parksville and Qualicum Beach REALTORS®. Arrowsmith is a non-profit, volunteer-driven organisation providing multi-role search and rescue services to the Nanaimo area and Vancouver Island.
Excitement ran high on November 6 as people gathered to watch the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board and Steve Marshall Ford Lincoln present a cheque for $10,000 to Nanaimo’s Haven Society. The money was raised at a “Driven to Give” test-drive event held on September 24 in Nanaimo.
REALTORS® in the Comox Valley happily presented YANA (You Are Not Alone) with a $510 donation in December. YANA is a community organization offering help to Comox Valley families who must travel to access medical treatment for their children.
Recent Action - 2012
Filmmaker Assisted .
Family Skate Program .
Pink T-Shirt Day .
PQ REALTORS® Help Out .
Kite Boarding For Kids .
Riding For Charity .
Helping In Courtenay .
Local Toy Drive Supported .
Salvation Army Helped Out .
McGuire Receives Honor .
VIREB Helps Haven .
Cowichan Helps Out .
Supporting Education .
Bursary Aids Student .
NIC Bursary Winner .
Tour de Rock 2012 .
Realty Office Wins Award .
Contributing Sweat-Equity .
Two MLS® Departments Meet .
Real Estate Foundation of BC .
Silly Boaters Raise $100,000 .
CR REALTORS® In Bed Race .
Draw Winners At Luncheon .
Hoffman .
Photo Shoot For Powerlifter .
REALTORS® Aid MS Society .
Donation To Hospice Society .
VIREB Directors Kathy Koch (left) and Jennifer Merrilees donated $1,000 to Nanaimo filmmaker Paul Manly March 14 to allow his documentary Voices of the River to be duplicated and distributed to local schools. The film examines the importance of the Nanaimo River Watershed.
Parksville Qualicum REALTORS® donated $500 to the Parkville Lions Club Sunday, March 3 to help fund its successful Family Skate Program. The money will be used to purchase new skate aides for beginners to the sport like the trio illustrated in the accompanying photograph.
VIREB staff donned their best pink shirts February 27th to offer its support to Pink T-Shirt Day 2013. National campaign launched to bring attention to the problem of school bullying.
Qualicum REALTOR® Matt Breedlove recently presented a $500 cheque on the behalf of Zone 5 REALTORS® to Christina Peacock, House Manager at Jeneese Place in Victoria. The facilty assists families with children requiring medical treatment in Victoria.
Parksville REALTOR® Ken Droog is hoping to kite board across the Georgia Strait in April as a fundraiser for BC Children's Hospital. He and his group are hoping to raise $10,000 for the Children's Miracle Network.
RE/MAX of Nanaimo REALTOR® Brian Godfrey (left) is training for a cross Canada fundraising journey he is planning for this May. He and his riding partner Bob Wilson plan on riding 7,300 km to Newfoundland to raise money for BC Children's Hospital.
$900 was raised for local charities in the Comox Valley during recent Zone Christmas Luncheon. Participating in the event were (left to right) Gary Gray, Darrell Paysen, Ryan Williams, Corey Zaal, Harmony Dyck and Owen Smith. About 70 REALTORS® took part in the event.
Former REALTOR® Pat Squire (middle) received a $250 cheque from Nanaimo REALTORS® during a Christmas Luncheon held Dec. 14. VIREB Past President Jim Stewart and Board Director Jennifer Merrilees made the presentation to assist with the local Toy Drive, organized in part by Squire.
Nanaimo REALTORS® presented a $750 cheque to the local Salvation Army at a Christmas Luncheon held Dec. 14. VIREB Past President Jim Stewart and Board Director Jennifer Merilees presented the money to the Salvation Army's Dawn Anderson (middle) as part of the year end celebration.
Coast Realty REALTOR® Bill McGuire received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal during a special ceremony held Dec. 14 in Nanaimo. Local MLA Leonard Krog presented the honor, one of four medals given to local citizens who have gone above and beyond in terms of local community service.
VIREB staff donated $535 to the Nanaimo Haven Society December 14. Sarsh Dymock (left) accepted the gift from Board Director Jennifer Merrilees and VIREB's IT Director Jason Conway. Money was raised through donations from the VIREB staff collected throughout the year.
REALTORS® in the Cowichan Valley did their part to make the season bright during their annual Christmas Luncheon Dec 7, 2012. More than $500 was raised for charity, while a pile of toys were donated for the region's less fortunate children.
North Island College student Nicholas Lade was one of three winners of an $860 bursary, paid out of the $60,000 endowment created jointly in 2011 by VIREB and the Real Estate Foundation of BC. Lade is working toward his Bachelor of Business Administration degree.
Lane Pearson is another of the trio of North Island College students to earn an $860 bursary, created via the $60,000 endowment VIREB and the Real Estate Foundation of BC established in 2011. The fund was created as part of VIREB's 60th Anniversary celebrations. Pearson is part of NIC's Electronics Core program.
Candace Pisto is one of three North Island College students to win an $860 bursary, paid out of the $60,000 endowment established by VIREB and the Real Estate Foundation of BC in 2011. Pisto is working toward a degree in Business Administration and hopes to become an administrator.
The Tour de Rock, a fundraiser for children's cancer research, stopped at the VIREB office October 1. A $4,000 donation was made to the group, who were participating in 1,000 kilometre bicycle ride down Vancouver Island.
Royal LePage Advance Realty in Campbell River was the winner of the 2012 Business Award of Distinction (Intermediate Business of the Year category). The group receivced their prize from the Campbell River Chamber of Commerce at a gtala event held September 22 at the Tidemark Theatre in Campbell River.
Coast Realty REALTORS® contributed some sweat-equity to a Habitat for Humanity construction project in Nanaimo September 20th. Coast's "Raise the Roof" campaign will see the company contribute $30,000 over the next three years to the construction of three duplexes for less fortunate families.
In the first meeting of its kind, the MLS® departments from VIREB and VREB (Victoria) had a joint meeting in Nanaimo on Sept. 11. The unique session combined social and educational elements, making for a very information packed day.
Members of the Real Estate Foundation of BC (REFBC) visited VIREB Sept. 6 as part of a Vancouver Island information gathering tour. The REFBC funds non-profit real estate related activities and supports a variety of other grant programs. Please see the companion article in the News Section of this website for more information. In the photo are (left to right) Jack Wong, Bill Benoit, Scott Ullrich, Celine Owen and Darrell Paysen.
VIREB MLS® CSR Joanne Russell (second from left on bottom row) was part of the winning team during the Annual Silly Boat Regatta held at Maffeo Sutton Park in Nanaimo July 15. The event which saw 42 teams competing, raised nearly $100,000 for the Nanaimo Child Development Centre. Joanne helped crew the entry from the appropriately named Buccaner Inn. Well done to this group of community minded Swashbucklers!
About a dozen REALTORS®, coming from offices throughout Campbell River, donated $250 toward the Campbell River Hospital Foundation during the city's annual Canada Day Bed Race. A total of $780 was raised for the Foundation during the all in fun event. The not too serious competition attracted teams from across the city.
Campbell River REALTORS® Byron Maier, Amy Ross & Christie Tipper were draw prize winners at the Zone 1 Luncheon held June 27 in Campbell River. Zone Director Heather Parker and VIREB Manager of Member Services Darrell Paysen were on hand to make the presentation. (Photo (left to right): Maier, Parker, Ross, Tipper & Paysen.
No one likes to be sick, or to spend extended time in the hospital. That sentiment goes double if you’re a child. Recently Margo Hoffman VIREB Director for Zone 5 and a REALTOR® with Coast Realty Group, presented a $500 cheque on behalf of VIREB to the Jeneece Place family-support facility in Victoria. Read more . . .
Nanaimo REALTOR® and Champion Power-Lifter Rhonda Heaslip (RE/MAX of Nanaimo) kicked off part of her new Raise The Bar fundraising drive at the VIREB Training Room June 25. The world champion weightlifter was on hand for a professional photo shoot that will be used as part of her campaign branding this year. Last year her efforts raised $3,600 for the new emergency ward at the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH).
Campbell River REALTORS® were out in force during the Mother’s Day weekend selling Carnations on behalf of the Multiple Sclerosis Society. RE/MAX Check Realty REALTORS® Dean and Rita Casorzo joined the local MS Society’s Glenda Johnson (centre) in front of the Campbell River CIBC branch May 11th.
Nanaimo (Zone 4) REALTORS® donated $2,500 to the Nanaimo Community Hospice Society Thursday, May 31 during their Zone Luncheon. Money to be used as part of the "Expand the Heart of Hospice" capital campaign. REALTORS® Jim Stewart, Jennifer Merilees and Dave Hammond made the presentation to Hospice Executive Director Wendy Pratt during the luncheon.
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