In the spirit of community service, members of the Keller Williams Realty of Greater Nassau suspended their normal work routines last Thursday to clean up the New Hyde Park Athletic League clubhouse grounds and interior on Denton Avenue.
The occasion was the third annual day of service, or RED day – Renew, Energize and Donate – that the company has conducted in communities where it has offices around the U.S.
Since many Keller Williams agents live in New Hyde Park and do business there, the locale was an easy choice, according to Karen Inglima, who said the company-wide practice was instituted to honor the philanthropic efforts of the company’s CEO, Mo Anderson.
“Our company is all about giving back to the community, where we live and work. It’s important to the culture of the company. This is how we treat each other. This is how we treat our communities,” said Inglima, who is a New Hyde Park resident herself.
Keller Williams agent Mildred Tassone, another New Hyde Park resident, said the PAL clubhouse grounds were in need of a clean-up. So 15 people from the Keller Williams office in Carle Place donned their red t-shirts, emblazoned with “Give Where You Live” on the back, grabbed their rakes and shovels and spent nearly five hours sprucing up the PAL grounds. Several of the real estate agents pulled plants from their own gardens and replanted them around the PAL clubhouse, Inglima said.
“We felt great. It was such a sense of unity as a company, being able to help the community,” Inglima said.
The Keller Williams branch also participates in the community as a member of the New Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce.
Last year on its RED Day Keller Williams employees performed more than 180,000 hours of community service work.
“When we decided to move forward with RED Day, we were thrilled that our associates embraced the day with such excitement and tenacity. They have truly shown us what community is all about,” added Theresa Lupo, Keller Williams broker/partner.
The New Hyde Park PAL staff was pleased with the unexpected assistance from Keller Williams.
“The clean-up was a huge success. They helped beautify outside and cleaned up inside, which helps with our upcoming camp,” said Nick Caras, president of the board of directors of the New Hyde Park PAL. “It was an unexpected pleasure.”
Serious renovation work remains to be done at the PAL center. The clubhouse suffered extensive damage to its gymnasium during a flood in 2007 and is awaiting a $200,000 state grant that state Senator Jack Martins (R-Mineola) is trying to help secure. The original grant was secured through former state Sen. Craig Johnson and fell into the same limbo as other grants when the Democratic state Senate leadership pulled many grants in the district after Johnson lost in his reelection bid last year.
