The Foundation with Melinda Vazquez & Kimberlie Griggs

In this episode, Chad and Maria are joined by Melinda Vazquez and Kimberlie Griggs to introduce ECAR’s newly formed Foundation, an exciting step forward in how we give back to our communities.

The Foundation creates a more focused and structured approach to philanthropy, making it easier than ever for ECAR members to get involved and make a meaningful impact. From initiatives like Soldiers on the Water and Building Homes for Heroes to supporting local programs like Food for Thought, this conversation highlights the powerful ways our members can serve beyond real estate.

Melinda and Kimberlie share the vision behind the Foundation, what inspired its creation, and how it opens the door for greater connection, purpose, and community engagement across ECAR.

If you’ve ever wanted to get more involved or learn how ECAR is making a difference, this episode is full of inspiration and opportunity.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Keys to the Emerald Coast, the voice of e-car, opening doors to news, knowledge, and connection for realtors across our coast.

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Welcome back, Ecar. Thanks for joining us for another episode of Keys to the Emerald Coast. I am Chad Nelson, Marketing and Communications Director at Ecar, joined by the illustrious Maria Howell.

SPEAKER_03 0:21

Thank you, Chad.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

I always gotta find some new words to you know throw in, have some fun with it. But we we are joined in studio by some some heavy hitters. Um I don't know if I could even list all of the things, but I'll I'll just I'll let them do that themselves. But Melinda Vasquez. Yes Vasquez, correct? Correct. Okay. And and Kimberly Griggs. Yes. Hello. Thanks for joining us.

SPEAKER_02 0:46

Absolutely. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 0:47

How's doing today?

SPEAKER_02 0:47

Great.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

Doing good. Yep. Good. Enjoying the cold weather. I am actually because are you okay?

SPEAKER_02 0:52

Yes. I'm from the West Coast, so a few extra days of cold is gonna be great for me.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

There we go. We'll we'll take the last last little bit. I I I was joking earlier that Maria jinxed us. I did. I thought we were gonna be good, but Punxatoni and Maria we have to blame.

SPEAKER_03 1:10

Yeah, because I mean I grew up here, you know, right? Every March we have one last cult spell.

SPEAKER_02 1:16

Sometimes in April, too. Yeah. I've been here 30 years.

SPEAKER_03 1:18

Now Melinda's jinxing us, right? Now I'll get the text from Jason Miller who's like, hey, you jinxed us.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

I love it. Well, we're we're here to talk a little bit foundation today. So uh before we jump into foundation, I want to give, I guess, both of you the opportunity to kind of just tell us your story, whether that's personal, professional, how'd you get involved, but give you a little chance to introduce ours yourself to our members that don't know you.

SPEAKER_02 1:44

Guess I'll jump right in there. Um I'm Melinda Vasquez. I am a military spouse for the last 30 he was in for 35 years. So I think we're going on 36 or 37. And we came here because he got stationed at Holbert. And then, I don't know, a decade or so ago, I jumped into this crazy real estate thing. And then somebody tapped me on the shoulder and said, Hey, would you be interested in doing blah? And that happened to be soldiers on the water. So my first foray into e-car volunteerism was our soldiers on the water event, which is the one of my most favorite things to do. We take combat wounded veterans, fishing, charter fishing for a day. And the rest is history. Then I got sucked into um all kinds of board activities, all the way up to I'm currently president of the Emerald Coast MLS, our um MLS service for the local area. And oh, and this foundation. And president of the Ecar Foundation.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

And and like I said, I got sucked in.

SPEAKER_01 2:42

So here we are.

unknown 2:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 2:44

Awesome. What about you, Kim?

SPEAKER_01 2:46

I am Kimberly Craiggs. I am president-elect of ECAR this year, and I am a secretary of the foundation board. I have to look at Melinda to make sure that's the right title. Um, I have been, I'm native to the area. Uh, grew up here, uh, went to school here, and uh started real estate back in 2010 and got on the board and uh serve in that capacity since I think 2021, right after our leadership with Mario as my leadership sponsor. So yes.

SPEAKER_03 3:16

Good old LDP.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

No, that was 2018.

SPEAKER_02 3:20

See. Best class ever.

SPEAKER_00 3:22

Everyone. Everyone who I think has come and sat in these seats talk about their LDP class, and everyone, it's the best class ever.

SPEAKER_02 3:31

So it was me and Joe Cabalotti and Chrissy Hartley. So you talk about powers that that came to fruition through leadership.

SPEAKER_03 3:40

We don't talk want to talk about my class.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

There we go. We have a lot of power. Well, we're talking foundation. Um for those who don't even know what it is, what is the foundation? What how did it get started? Why do we have a foundation? Why was it even created? Let's start there.

SPEAKER_02 3:59

Well, it led under Maria's charge actually last year. It's been talked about it for for many years.

SPEAKER_03 4:05

I think Joe started the conversation like, should we be doing a foundation? And then yes, I think last year it really came to fruition um with getting something going with all of the charitable events that we do. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:18

Our intent is to have an organized way to give back to the community where instead of starting from scratch every time we have, say, a natural disaster or a realtor member has a catastrophe in their personal life, we've had members' houses burned down and we're able to step up. And if we have a foundation in place and a structure that we can quickly help with that need.

SPEAKER_00 4:41

Yeah. It's not a one-off now. We have some processes and procedures behind all that.

unknown 4:47

That's great.

SPEAKER_02 4:48

And any donations to the foundation are also then tax deductible, either for our realtor members or anyone else in the community can donate to our foundation. We're not limited to just realtors and affiliates like we were before on some of our events.

SPEAKER_00 5:00

So is that really, I mean, we saw that need that for the processes and procedures, or what really led to this is why we have to have a foundation?

SPEAKER_01 5:12

So on the national level, they do a big campaign called Realtors Are Good Neighbors, and it really um shone through in our local area just because we do events that not only are here locally, but then we also do events that are tied to some of the national um uh companies like building homes for heroes and things like that. So there are some things that we're giving tens of thousands of dollars towards. Um, and then there's things that we want to be able to sponsor here in the community as well. So we want to be able to um provide grants to certain organizations and different things like that. So it was really something that we felt passionate about getting behind and giving our realtors an opportunity to do that, but also giving the public an opportunity to get involved with the realtors as well.

SPEAKER_00 5:54

That's great.

SPEAKER_03 5:55

Yeah, and I think it also opens up how we can um raise charitable funds too. And when it was under the, you know, e car, our hands were tied on some things that we could do. And so by putting um the event, you know, charitable events under the foundation, that really opened up uh our fundraising.

SPEAKER_00 6:14

That's good. I I think we've kind of alluded to it, but what really is, I guess, the mission um and kind of vision for the foundation moving forward?

SPEAKER_01 6:23

So we have a couple of main um events that we do with e-car, which are soldiers on the water, building homes for heroes. We have a give back barbecue. Um I'm missing one. Yes, the uh school supply drive. Yeah. I'm trying to remember all of them on one hand. Um so those are some things that we know we do each and every year. We want to make them bigger and better. So we just want to be able to um really focus on those key efforts. And then again, getting the public involved um and and adding to those, you know, through the grants and different things like that. We want to be able to be a profession that gives back to the people that give to us.

SPEAKER_02 7:04

It also brings to light some of those opportunities that people wouldn't necessarily see in their daily lives. And one that just popped into my head is Food for Thought. Yes, our community military outreach committee does a lot of work at Food for Thought. They provide backpacks for underprivileged kids that need nourishment over the weekends. So it's a really cool program, and this is a way we can highlight some local opportunities to our membership and the public.

SPEAKER_03 7:28

Yeah, and we do have a lot of organizations that reach out to us, you know, uh to contribute and this way we can um have the foundation, you know, um offer them.

SPEAKER_00 7:40

What are some I want to make it a little bit more personal here, but what are some stories obviously the soldiers on the water, building homes for heroes? What what are some maybe personal experiences that we've had through some of these established organizations, committees that that we really hope to again highlight for one, but then continue to promote and make them better for the future of the foundation.

SPEAKER_01 8:10

Building Homes for Heroes um definitely sticks out in my mind. I was involved with that last year, where they were able to dedicate the home um to Justin and his family, and they had him come out, they did a huge parade, and it was a surprise. They didn't know that the interior of the home was going to be decorated. So he had children and they were able to really decorate with some of his fiancé's input and some of the kids' input. And so we were able to watch those little boys walk into this home that not only were they gifted the home that made a huge difference in their lives, but they were also able to go in and see like their personalized bedrooms and everything like that. So it shows you that doing a bowling tournament and doing some of these fundraisers really legitimately changed that family's life.

SPEAKER_03 8:52

Yeah, without a doubt. Yeah. And to have it mortgage free too, wasn't it? Yes. Yeah. And I think mostly furnished. Yeah, no. With the furnishings too. That's incredible. Yep. Yeah, that's good work.

SPEAKER_00 9:04

What about you, Melinda? What what what's uh talked about soldiers on the water a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 9:08

What what's a kind of personal story that's seeing some of these veterans that don't get out much and they certainly don't have in maybe their uh everyday lives a community of veterans because not everybody has what we have here on the Emerald Coast, especially in this area with so many bases. And they come from Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, we've had some from Texas in the past. And to see them interact with other veterans with the same issues and and constraints. I'm not using my words very well, but to see them interact at that level and then having a really good time and then the competitiveness because we do an actual tournament at the end of the day. There's there's prizes and there's some it's entertaining. It's really bad. It's entertaining. The biggest fish, and you know, we had the ugliest fish when we were ugliest fish. Well, we had that that was just one time, but usually the smallest fish gets a lot more than the biggest fish does.

SPEAKER_03 10:04

Yeah, and they get a a big fish fry when they get off the boat, which is really, really nice from the restaurant.

SPEAKER_02 10:10

We send them off with breakfast and a snack, and they come back in the early afternoon, and then we do cook your catch at Britola's. They're a huge sponsor of our event. They do a great job, their staff is amazing. Um, so it's really cool to watch them interact with each other, and it's a family style. Like you're not at individual tables. Everybody's just kind of crowded into the into the space in these long setups. So Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:32

I think we spoke a little bit before we started, but I think that was I think Soldiers on the Water was one of my first events that I went to or was a part of when when I joined on on e-car staff. And I I think a lot of people, hopefully not many of our listeners, but um they look at realtors as they're just buying and selling houses. And I don't know if that was necessarily my thought process, but to see members of of eCar and our membership and the task force and to give back to the community in such a massive way, to see these boats roll up and and welcome everybody with open arms and being the competitive person I was I wanted to be out on a boat, I wanted to take pictures, I wanted to have some fun, but yeah, to to really see an environment where we're changing people's lives. Um and to think that as a as a realtor or as a an association that we have an opportunity to pour into the lives of other people to me is fantastic. It's not it's not about me all the time, it's about what we can do for other people. So yeah, I I commend you guys for not only doing this foundation, for for continuing to to grow it and make it better every year because it's some good work. I love it.

SPEAKER_03 11:49

Yes. And we can do more things when we get it all set up.

SPEAKER_01 11:54

Yes, and it's very rare that we really have to like go out and beg our membership. Like the realtors are very giving, so there's always an opportunity if we say, hey, we need X, Y, and Z, that there's two or three people online. Hey, here you go, take care of it. We will do this. So we're lucky in that aspect for sure.

SPEAKER_00 12:11

Good group of people.

SPEAKER_03 12:13

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 12:14

We'll have brokerage offices step up and and put a stake out. Hey, if we're gonna challenge you to do 300 cans of peanut butter or whatever the thing is delayed, peanut butter and jelly, right?

SPEAKER_03 12:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

They're very competitive in nature.

SPEAKER_00 12:29

It's good, it brings out the best in some people and uh sometimes the worst. Well, I don't know. I won't name any names, but yeah, it's it's a lot of fun. Well, is there anything that we're missing about the foundation, about kind of what's to look ahead? Um, anything that our listeners need to know.

SPEAKER_02 12:45

We would ask that you contribute to the foundation and any amount is acceptable. We will obviously take any dollar. Um, also, there's always opportunities to participate and volunteer, and we always need extra volunteers, especially on the day of events. And it's everything from setting up signs and and tearing down tents to you know toting stuff back to the building and then helping with the accounting and keeping track of people. All the things. All the things that make an event happen. Yeah. Packing bags. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:19

How how can they get how not only how can they get involved, but how can they get in contact with you or the foundation in general?

SPEAKER_02 13:27

So the foundation website should be up and running very soon, and it will be eCarcares.com, and there will be a donate now button on there. There will also be individual pages for like building homes for heroes and for soldiers on the water and the camo committee, and then whatever else we add as time goes on. They can have my phone number. It's plastered all over the internet. All you have to do is Google search or Maria's or Kim's or Chad's for that matter.

SPEAKER_03 13:54

I mean, we're all reachable.

SPEAKER_02 13:56

Call the office. Yeah. Both both the front desk ladies are phenomenal. Um, there's no everybody knows what we're doing. So anybody at eCar can direct you one of the things. Get involved. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00 14:07

Get involved, absolutely, uh, especially in something as powerful as this. And um, I can't encourage that enough. Um, continue to reach out and and give us opportunities to get you the information, um, get you connected, and and allow this to just become something that we can talk about for years to come.

SPEAKER_02 14:25

Come and play our reindeer games. See what we get to look forward to.

SPEAKER_00 14:32

Yes. Maybe. Well, perfect. Well, I I thank you for joining us. I appreciate you kind of taking the time out of your busy schedules to come in and talk a little bit, but um, can't thank you enough for what you guys do for the association and and obviously for your clients day in and day out.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

Thank you very much. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

Well, as always, you can find us anywhere you're listening to podcasts. Um, continue to reach out, just like we talked about. Um, find us at the office. Um, you can Google almost anybody in this room. Um, I'm sure, I'm sure there's some you know fun pictures or stuff you can find. But uh find a way to connect with us. This podcast is for you, our membership. Uh, if there's something you want to hear, uh don't be afraid to reach out. Um, until then, we'll talk to you soon.

SPEAKER_03 15:16

Bye bye.

SPEAKER_00 15:17

Bye.