Real estate agency finds ways to give back
SOUTHCOVENTRY» As the coronavirus pandemic continues, many in the community are organizing or contributing to fundraisers to help those in need. For Styer Real Estate of South Coventry, giving back to the community is a yearround effort.
“I have always felt blessed. I come from an enormous family and have always been surrounded by people and love and food and music — and all the things that make life beautiful. I think I have a responsibility to give back,” said Meredith Jacks, owner/broker at Styer Real Estate.
The company, she said, has philanthropic activities it does every year — and this year, it has found some new ways to support the community.
Jacks said she feels strongly that “the need is there for us to be out there when we can’t be out there.”
New this year is a holiday lights tour through communities across the area. The tour will run from Dec. 21 through Dec. 27, “roughly from Phoenixville to Birdsboro, Downingtown to Boyertown and in between,” according to information on Styer Real Estate’s Facebook page.
“The holiday lights tour is the most exciting thing we are doing, based on this year being unlike any other,” Jacks said. “It’s a small thing, but it is enough to brighten some of the darkness some people are going through.”
Not only does the free event offer something safe and fun for residents to do over the holiday — there is a philanthropic component as well.
For every homeowner or business owner that registers their lighting display, Styer Real Estate will donate $20 to the Spring-Ford Rotary’s Adopt-a-Family effort.
Jacks said the company is currently registering homeowners and businesses that have decorated their homes with outdoor holiday lights and displays — who have gone a little overboard this year in the tradition of Clark Griswold — and want to show off a bit.
Locations can register until Dec. 18. Just prior to the start of the tour, a map will be generated showing the locations. To register, call Styer Real Estate at 610-469-9001or email styerrealestate@gmail.com.
On Thursday, Styer Real Estate delivered a $1,000 check to the Spring-Ford Rotary, representing
the first 50 registrants on the holiday lights tour.
Another new initiative for the company was launched on Facebook on Dec. 10 — “1,000 Likes for $1,000.” It benefits the Pottstown School District elementary music program.
For every person that visits
Styer Real Estate’s Facebook page and likes and follows the page between Dec. 10 and Jan. 1, the company will donate $1 to the elementary school music program. The goal is to raise $1,000.
“I have always been a proponent of the arts. I want to make sure they have the resources they need,” she said.
Jacks said that if the Facebook page receives 2,000 likes, the company will also donate $1,000 to the district’s middle school music program.
One of Styer Real Estate’s returning initiatives is its Giving Tree.
“It’s a small tree in our entryway and we fill it with donations from neighbors, businesses and friends,” Jacks said. This year, the firm is collecting winter wear, gift cards, cash, feminine hygiene products, diapers and wipes, and new bedding.
Donations will be accepted through Dec. 31, and items collected will be distributed to Home of the Sparrow in Exton, the Rickets Center in Pottstown and the Pottstown Cluster of Religious Communities.
“It all started when our community began to reach out to us asking what they could do with the ‘small, barely anything’ donations they had,” information about the event on the Facebook page stated.
“We wanted to have something where people wouldn’t be afraid of donating small things. Not everyone has money to donate,” Jacks said, adding that more than $1000 worth of cash donations and gift cards were given last year.
Styer Real Estate has a contactless drop box outside its South Coventry office, 2089 Pottstown Pike, for Giving Tree donations.
The company is also joining with restaurants and other businesses in the community to help a family in the Owen J. Roberts School district — by delivering dinner to the family each night through the month of December. The family is a single mother in the district with two sons — one of them battling cancer.
“We want to take some of the weight off of them,” Jacks said, adding that the community came together after a Facebook post about the family.
Another effort came about through a chance meeting. A few weeks ago, Jacks met Pastor Joyce Wilkerson of Pottstown’s Restoration Deliverance Life Center. Jacks said she was walking her dog in Pottstown and saw a group gathered in Smith Family Plaza on High Street.
“They were folding clothes and had food set out. I learned they give clothing and food to the needy in the borough, and I asked how I could help,” Jacks said. She made an on the spot cash donation, then went to purchase some items to contribute to the effort.
Jacks said she returned to Pottstown before Thanksgiving — along with her assistant Nicolette Saggiomo and Styer Real Estate agent Amy Miller — with turkeys, desserts, rolls and drinks — and served the meal side by side with Restoration Deliverance Life Center.
Jacks said she plans to work with Wilkerson on additional projects.
Another effort the company regularly supports is the Rebecca Melvin Foundation, led by Styer Real Estate agent Dianne Melvin. The goal of the Foundation is to provide relief from the emotional, physical, and financial impact to children and their families that result from fighting chronic disabilities and illnesses. Jacks said Melvin won a $2500 grant from the company’s real estate association.
“At Styer we are small but we are mighty. All of these efforts amount to something bigger. There is no such thing as a donation too small,” Jacks said.
Steyer Real Estate has two employees and 13 real estate agents. For more information, visit styerrealestate.com/.
“I have always felt blessed. I come from an enormous family and have always been surrounded by people and love and food and music — and all the things that make life beautiful. I think I have a responsibility to give back.” Meredith Jacks, owner/broker, Styer Real Estate