Real estate agents give Boynton Soup Kitchen a one-day makeover

Real estate agents give Boynton Soup Kitchen a one-day makeover

Real estate agents from Keller Williams Realty Boynton Beach ditched the office Thursday for the sake of community service.

As part of the company’s Renew Energize Donate (RED) day, about 100 volunteers donned red shirts and repainted, landscaped and fixed up the inside and outside of The Soup Kitchen of Boynton Beach.

“It feels good to give back to the community where we live and where we sell real estate,” said Beverly Mandell, a Boynton agent.

From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., employees dug up roots, planted flowers, painted walls, mounted blinds and framed pictures to beautify a place that feeds hundreds every month.

Keller Williams agents compared the one-day remodeling event to a popular TV show.
“It’s like ‘Extreme Makeover,’ except where they have a week to remodel a place, we’re doing it in a day. It’ll be easy for us because we have a lot of help out here,” said Carola Lueder, an ax-wielding Keller Williams agent.

Local businesses also donated 200 pounds of mulch, a truck full of flowers, paint, food, blinds and picture frames for the day’s mission, said Donna Tavares, operations manager at Keller Williams Boynton Beach.

“We want to make it a little more homey,” she said. “People that come to the Soup Kitchen are dealing with a lot and we just want to make this place a little happier for them.”

Rhoda Fliss, chairwoman of the board of directors for The Soup Kitchen of Boynton Beach, said she appreciated the help and the efforts of the Keller Williams volunteers.

“We didn’t have blinds before, now we have blinds. It’s nice,” she said. But Fliss’ favorite part is seeing the smiles on the faces of her regular patrons.

“They can’t stop asking about it,” she said. “We’ve been very fortunate at The Soup Kitchen, so the people that come here should be fortunate, too.”

Caregiver Kathy Miranda, 51, visits the Soup Kitchen once a week to pick up bread and desserts for her mother.

Next week when she comes back, the center will have a different look. She said that décor isn’t the reason that she keeps coming back, but she welcomes the changes.

“They’re already doing a good job of making the place look nice,” Miranda said as she looked around at the new blinds being put up. “The people are so friendly, it’s like being at home really, it’s just like family.”

She added: “I know anyone who comes here is going through a lot and we really could use any type of lift in here.”

Keller Williams hosts the RED day every year on May 9 across the nation. Last year, the Boynton chapter donated diapers and baby supplies to the Soup Kitchen’s mother aid program.

Source: 

Courtesy of Keller Williams of Boynton Beach

By Attiyya Anthony, Sun Sentinel

 https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/boynton-beach/fl-boynton-soup-kitchen-remodel-20130510,0,384840.story