personal connection between the anglers and the children
of Valerie’s House, so they had the children make a piece
of artwork that expressed themselves. The artwork was
displayed under the tournament tent. In addition, four
children and four adults from Valerie’s House participated
in the tournament. “Fin, one of the Valerie’s kids, caught
a six-foot Sawfish and a huge Alligator Gar,” said Hayes.
“The look on the faces of the Valerie’s House Team when
they pulled back up to the docks was absolutely priceless.
In that one second I knew that the 10 months of blood,
sweat and tears was worth it.”
Since meeting everyone at the Association, Melvin says
several things have changed, including expanding their
Naples location, adding another night for the children to
meet, and working on getting bigger space. They are in the
process of moving from their current location on Avalon
Place in Downtown Fort Myers, to another historical home
on Fowler and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, where
they will rent and save up capital to be able to hopefully
begin building a permanent location in two or three years.
They will move in over the holidays. “The new location will
have the same warm and cozy look to it,” says Melvin, “but
it will be bigger.” This year, Valerie’s House was voted as
a finalist in the Excellence Nonprofit Performance Yearly
Awards for Rising Organization, and is a finalist for Lee
County Economic Development and Horizon Council’s
Nonprofit of the Year Award.
In addition to raising money and getting exposure for
Valerie’s House, Melvin says that she’s also had individual
Realtors® personally contribute to Valerie’s House and
sign up for volunteering. Brian Solt with Keller Williams
Fort Myers and The Islands is one such volunteer. He
said he went one day with the Communications and
Community Outreach Committee to Valerie’s House and
he just decided it was a good time for him to help. He
will continue to volunteer for as long as time will allow
him. “You find yourself in a state of connecting with the
community,” he said. “You watch them relate to each other
and find comfort in each other, and that’s the best part of
volunteering.”
VALERIE’S HOUSE NEEDS YOUR HELP THIS
HOLIDAY SEASON.
THE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY HAS SET UP A
GOFUNDME LINK TO RAISE SOME MUCH-
NEEDED FUNDS FOR VALERIE’S HOUSE.
IF YOU COULD, TAKE A MOMENT AND
DONATE GENEROUSLY.
GOFUNDME.COM/VALERIES-HOUSE
But whatever the motive for volunteering, Melvin is grateful
for it all. Overall, she says it’s been a wonderful year for
Valerie’s House. “We have met so many people who have
done so many great things for us, and we never would
have met them without The Royal Palm Coast Realtor®
Association and we are just so thankful. It’s just all so much
more than we expected.”
RPCRA.ORG | NOV/DEC 2017
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