REALTOR ISSUES CHARITIES CHALLENGE WITH DONATION TO MUSKOKA CHILDREN’S FOUNDATION

BRACEBRIDGE — Booming real estate is paying off big time for the Children’s Foundation of Muskoka.

Muskoka realtor and businessman Dave Smith, of Chestnut Park Real Estate in Baysville, recently made good on his commitment to donate a portion of his commission to the foundation.

The property recently sold was one owned by foundation president Cheryl Cooper.

And Smith wanted to use the sale to highlight how important it is right now to support our local charities, she says in a release today.

Smith himself, who is also a director of the South Muskoka Hospital Foundation, says he sees and understands first-hand the annual needs of these charities, which he says are “incredibly important and vital to the Muskoka community.”

But they have struggled to raise funds, given COVID restrictions.

They say the past year-and-a-half has impacted families and businesses in many different ways. Some sectors of the economy have suffered, while others have thrived.

As a result, Smith said he would like to call upon his colleagues in the real estate and construction sectors, and the many seasonal residents that have now made Muskoka their new home, and encourage them all to give generously to their community.

With mental health and food insecurity issues on the rise, and the fall-out from lockdowns, Cooper says the requests for assistance from the foundation are significant.

“For a long time now our kids have been unable to participate in team sports, enjoy music or dance lessons, or even to see their friends.

“It is the foundation’s hope to meet their recreational, educational and emotional needs once again by purchasing bikes, beds or new clothes for them; enabling them to go horseback riding or play soccer; or to give them a wonderful, life-altering experience at a camp.

“Anything to return the smiles to their faces,” she says.

Adding “Smith’s challenge is on.”