This week the Hering Homes Team demonstrated its community spirit with donations of $4,500 and two pickup trucks full of non-perishable food to the Community Care Center, a food pantry in Grayslake.

The donations were the results of weeks of volunteer hours by seven REALTORS®, led by Jamie and Aaron Hering of @properties in Grayslake, in response to the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

“It is a nice way to give back to the community,” said Jamie. “As REALTORS®, we have the tools to motivate people to do something, and we enjoyed doing it.”

Not long after Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued the first stay-at-home order in March, the Grayslake area started to feel the economic impact of the pandemic. With the pantry seeing twice the number of people needing its services, the team chose the slogan “Hope Lives Here” and set a goal of raising more than $500 through the project.

Team members passed out 25 “Hope Lives Here” yard signs and collected donations from local business owners and community members so quickly that additional signs had to be ordered. By the time the project ended, 120 signs were distributed throughout the community, says Hering.

Other members of the Hering team include: REALTOR® Rosemary Bridges, REALTOR® Jodi Cinq-Mars, REALTOR® Allison Kasperski, REALTOR® Jackie Kissinger and REALTOR® Laura Mitchell. Jenny Saiveau is a transaction coordinator.

Hering’s team has caught the attention of the Daily Herald, “Local Realtor Shows Hope Lives Here,” and the NAR’s REALTORS® are Good Neighbors Facebook page.

The entire Hering family got into the spirit of the “Hope Lives Here” campaign (l to r): Paige, Tanner, Aaron, Jamie and Parker.