COLUMBUS, Ohio (May 6, 2025)— The 21st annual REALTOR® Care Day will take place throughout central Ohio on Wednesday, June 11. REALTOR® Care Day is sponsored by Columbus REALTORS® and the Columbus REALTORS® Foundation, in partnership with over 20 area real estate associations and industry partners.
This year, the Van Buren Shelter, operated by the YMCA of Central Ohio and funded by the Community Shelter Board, will serve as this year’s “Main Project,” which will be led by the Columbus REALTORS® Foundation.
The Van Buren Shelter, located at 595 Van Buren Drive, Columbus, OH 43223, is one of the largest shelters in the nation, capable of serving between 600 and 800 individuals each night. The shelter provides services under one roof for three groups: single adult women, families with dependent children, and single adult men.
REALTOR® Care Day volunteers can choose from a variety of service options, ranging from outdoor activities such as landscaping and playground repair, raised garden bed refurbishment, and property beautification, to indoor tasks like building maintenance, creating personal hygiene baskets, and organizing facility storage areas.
“REALTOR® Care Day is such an inspiring day,” said Columbus REALTORS® President Buffie Patterson. “To have so many of our members spread across central Ohio, making a difference in their communities, is extraordinary.”
“Columbus REALTORS® and the Columbus REALTORS® Foundation are excited to partner with the Van Buren Center. They play a vital role in providing services and shelter to our unhoused community. Facilities like the Van Buren Center help our housing-insecure community get back on their feet and onto the path to stable housing.”
Columbus REALTORS® members can register for the REALTOR® Care Day Main Project by completing this registration form. Members may choose to work the morning shift (9 a.m.- 12 p.m.) or the afternoon shift (12 p.m. – 3 p.m.). Lunch will be provided to all volunteers. If you would like to volunteer for a local area real estate association or industry partner project, you can email their respective point of contact. Those projects will be announced on May 13.
As always, we request that volunteers wear their official REALTOR® Care Day t-shirts. New shirts are available for purchase here at just $10. If you have a REALTOR® Care Day T-shirt from a previous year, that may also be worn. As a reminder, brokerage or other branded T-shirts are not permissible at any REALTOR® Care Day site, whether for an area association project or the main project. This is the one day each year when we set aside our brokerage flags and unite under the REALTOR® flag for a day of service to our community. We thank you all for your participation in helping to make REALTOR® Care Day one of the longest-running and most successful annual days of service in the nation.
REALTOR® Care Day is funded through the Columbus REALTORS® Foundation, a non-profit, public charity corporation recognized under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS internal revenue code. Your donation is tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law, less the value of any goods or services received in return for the donation. Donors are advised to consult legal or tax counsel concerning their own tax situation. EIN: 46-4401521