Each year on the second Thursday of May, the Keller Williams headquarters in Austin, Texas, goes quiet. So do KW market centers across the country and around the globe. Instead of booting up their work computers, you’ll find thousands of KW associates starting the day in work boots and gloves. From Canada to Paraguay and Spain to Japan, this day is set aside to step away from the office and go RED – Renew, Energize, and Donate within our communities.
A tradition since 2009, RED Day is an opportunity for KW market centers to host community-based activities and fundraisers that unite their people around a shared purpose. Over the years, associates have joined together to build homes, plant gardens, distribute food, clean up parks, support animal shelters, and more. With an average market center size of more than 200 agents, that makes for a massive impact on a global scale.
Connecting Through Service
The KW Fresno market center in California has been taking part in RED Day since its inception. Over the past 16 years, they’ve helped more than a dozen organizations, turning to their agents to provide recommendations that align with their individual interests and concerns. This year, the team volunteered with Live Again Fresno, an organization that works with families living in motels along Parkway Drive.
The group’s RED Day activities bring together as many as 200 agents, and KW Fresno Team Leader Joanna Odabashian says they’re able to accomplish in one day what would take one person years to complete. From a cultural perspective, “serving together creates a bond and feels good,” Joanna says. The work they do helps strengthen relationships among team members and within the broader community.
For RED Day 2024, KW Huntsville in Alabama focused their efforts on the Huntsville Learning Center, which provides after school and summer programs for students with limited opportunities. The office got a head start on RED Day, hosting an educational real estate symposium that doubled as a fundraiser. The high-profile event, which included Huntsville’s mayor and area business leaders, landed them a spot on the local news, and netted $5,000 for their RED Day project. Team Leader Heather Jones says fundraising exceeded their expectations, ultimately bringing in more than $10,000 in donations and funding the construction of an outdoor pavilion and educational garden.
Making a Global Impact
Worldwide, Keller Williams offices are equally engaged. In the Czech Republic, agents in Prague planned a day of family-friendly activities to raise funds for a non-profit focused on neonatal care. Fugee, which provides education and services to refugee children, was the focus of RED Day for KW Malaysia. In Uruguay, KW agents and their families cleaned up over 90 miles of beach, while in Belize, associates from across the country came together to renovate facilities at an elementary school.
At KW Marbella in Spain, real estate agent Sara Doncel says, “Keller Williams is a brand that honors its values through this day of service.” For 2024, her market center focused on renovating a humanitarian agency and helping feed those in need.
Spreading Joy and Sunshine
Back in Austin, KWRI associates pulled together to complete an array of projects at Austin Sunshine Camps, an organization that provides free summer camp experiences to youth living near or below the poverty line. From painting cabin walls to building fences, more than 130 associates signed up to take part, while many of those who couldn’t attend in person helped organize and donate to the event. The day started with a high-energy team-building activity and a reminder about the lasting impact of the day’s work for individual children and the broader community.
For Mark Willis, KW CEO and president, the company’s annual day of service represents culture in action – a way to make a tangible impact beyond real estate. Mark says, “We don’t just talk about the change we want to see in our communities, we show up to be the change.”