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Mary’s Place Luncheon

Posted by Johnine Larsen on May 11, 2017
| Gals' Giving, General Interest
| 0

Every year, the Mary’s Place Spring Luncheon makes me a little teary. Amid all our country’s divisions, all the disheartening news reports, and all the stress of daily life, this event leaves me rejuvenated and inspired. Mary’s Place and its supporters (and there are a LOT of supporters) make a positive change in thousands of lives. At this luncheon, we heard from some of the people who have benefited from this change, and their gratitude was overwhelming. Mary’s Place isn’t just changing lives—it’s saving lives.

We also got to see Amazon unveil it’s new homeless shelter at the Spring Luncheon. Amazon’s newest headquarters will include a 47,000 sq ft Mary’s Place Family Shelter! This permanent shelter will have 65 rooms and house more than 200 homeless women, children, and families every night.

I attended the Spring Luncheon with some of my fellow Agents of Change. We’re all involved in real estate one way or another—some are real estate agents, others are lenders, etc—and we’ve banded together to help support Mary’s Place. For the past three years, we’ve donated money, ran clothing drives, organized fundraisers, and volunteered. I couldn’t ask for a more life-giving community.

Sitting with them as we heard from Mary’s Place staff, donors, and beneficiaries made me even more excited about our latest Agents of Change fundraiser: we’re collecting donations to give the kids of Mary’s Place a summer they can look forward to. When school lets out for the summer, families in need and families fighting homelessness face yet another challenge: their children have no money for activities. Agents of Change is raising money for summer transportation and activities for these kids, including movie tickets, day trips, art supplies, and museum tickets.

• $25 will let 2 kids go to the movies
• $50 will give 5 kids a day at the beach with a picnic lunch
• $100 will let 5 kids spend a day at the Museum of Flight

All funds go directly to the children of Mary’s Place during the summer of 2017. If you want to help, here’s a link to our GoFundMe page.

No matter how frustrating or dispiriting things look, Mary’s Place always reminds me that we can make a difference—and events like this luncheon show me just how much that difference matters.

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