Janice Overbeck and the 35 employees in her Keller Williams real estate office last month joined colleagues around the globe to mark the company’s Red Day, a date of community projects and outreach.
“It’s neat to know when everyone comes together on Red Day that 180,000-plus agents around the world are doing things to make a difference,” said Overbeck.
But Overbeck and her staff don’t limit their service to just one day.
“We are a community center, not just a real estate office,” said Overbeck. “We do about 50 events a year and a lot of giving back.”
For Red Day, Overbeck’s crew rounded up and delivered more than 590 food items to Marietta-based MUST Ministries. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the drive was conducted by agents bringing cans and financial donations to the office on Roswell Road. The company has a history of supporting MUST’s mission, from sponsoring a hole for golf tournaments to having volunteers make sandwiches and lead coat drives.
One of the company’s most popular initiatives has been low-cost pet vaccination clinics, sessions that were held monthly until the pandemic intervened. The office has also sponsored Santa photos with kids or pets.
“We’ve always had a huge turnout for that,” said Overbeck. “We’re on Roswell Road, and about 60,000 cars pass us every day. We just put out a banner and that gets the word out.”
The firm’s charitable efforts aren’t limited to the Cobb County community it calls home. In April 2019, Overbeck began sponsoring pet spay and neuter events in Tijuana, Mexico. Through the end of last year, the project had treated about 1,750 dogs and cats.
“Our goal was to get to 2,000 by the end of 2020, but we weren’t able to go there because of the pandemic,” said Overbeck. “But we did go on May 2 and did 306 procedures with eight veterinarians.”
Overbeck is now planning a new project to support a no-kill shelter in Laredo, Texas. “I’m working on a partnership there to do about 1,000 spays and neuters, and I’m self-funding it,” she said.
Those sorts of projects are key aspects of her company, said Overbeck.
“Our focus is to be driven and purposeful, and have a meaningful business in our community,” she said. “We want to do something beyond ourselves.”
Who’s doing good? Each week, we write about a deserving individual, charity events such as fun-runs, volunteer projects and other community gatherings that benefit a good cause. To suggest an event or person for us to cover, contact us at ajc.doinggood@gmail.com.
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