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How much impact can one article have? For Melton city, an REB write-up did not only help spread Christmas cheer to dozens of families but also brought a community together for a greater cause.
At the end of 2021, First National Real Estate Melton principal Jade Carberry had one simple goal: to put a smile on children’s faces on Christmas Day following the misery of Melbourne’s COVID-19 lockdowns.
After launching a toy drive to help realise her goal, she recalled how the Melton City Council reached out and threw its support behind her after being the only business in her community to undertake such an initiative to keep the spirit of Christmas alive in trying times.
She explained that during pre-pandemic times, the Melton City Council usually organises its own toy drive. But due to COVID-19, local churches and support services had been unable to provide their usual Christmas assistance.
“COVID has taken away a lot in 2021, but I don’t want it to wreck Christmas for little kids,” said Ms Carberry at that time.
To support the estate agency’s initiative, Melton City Council referred all of its registered families to First National Real Estate Melton and donated more presents — with a total of 35 families benefiting from the toy drive.
While Ms Carberry considered the toy 2021 drive a success, she was unaware of the chain of events that would help create what can be considered a Christmas miracle the following year.
Ms Carberry said that following an REB editorial on the toy drive — which was consequently shared within the agency’s community — interest in the initiative simply “snowballed”.
“After Real Estate Business published an editorial about our toy drive, it added legitimacy to our initiative and has been instrumental in substantially increasing the support we received in Christmas 2022,” said Ms Carberry.
She shared that support for the 2022 installation of the toy drive saw “exponential” growth, with the number of children receiving presents rising to over 100.
“We deeply appreciate the support our community has shown and are very grateful to Real Estate Business for the role it has played in helping our industry deliver cheer to underprivileged families,” she concluded.
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