Long & Foster Blacksburg Office Hosts Fundraiser for Local United Way

December 9, 2015
Judges taste chili at the New River Valley office's fundraiser cook off.

Long & Foster Real Estate, the largest family-owned residential real estate company in the United States, has announced that its New River Valley office, located at 3601 Holiday Lane in Blacksburg, recently hosted a fund raising event for the United Way of Montgomery, Radford and Floyd. Since our founding in 1968, Long & Foster has strived to give back to the communities in which we live and work. It was a commitment made by our founder Wes Foster long ago, and one that we continue to maintain. This was the third consecutive year the New River Valley office has hosted an annual Chili Cook-Off event to raise money for the local United Way.

Agents and staff in the office made crockpots full of delicious chili that was then tasted and tested by members of the community as well as other office agents. The judges this year were Scott Wimmer of Prosperity Home Mortgage, LLC, in Blacksburg, John Tuttle, owner of Service Master in Blacksburg, and Leslie Jester of Hometown Appraisal Services Inc. Donations were placed in jars to determine which chili was best liked by the crowd, while the judges determined a first and second place winning chili. All of the entries were also accompanied by a donation as well, which raised an additional $171.

A silent auction was also held in the office during the week to collect money for the charity, along with a traditional auction the night of the Chili Cook-Off that included donated pumpkins and cross-stitch wall hangings. Both auctions combined raised $950, and with additional donations from our community of $1,126, a total of $2,247 was raised for the organization overall.

Susan Erickson, an agent of over 12 years who is affiliated with the New River Valley office, organizes the event each year. Erickson said, “I’m always so thankful to everyone who puts in so much effort for the event and I am blown away by people’s generosity every year. At a time when many charities and local organizations have a great need for assistance, it’s an honor for our Long & Foster family to have the opportunity to help them.”

The office is still collecting donations and hopes to raise even more money over the next few weeks for the local United Way.

For more information, visit LongandFoster.com.