REALTORS Who Care’s Octoberfest raises more than $28,000
The numbers are tallied, and REALTORS® Who Care’s annual Octoberfest raised more than $28,000 to help members, affiliates and community organizations.
The number, believed to be a record for the non-profit’s Octoberfest, was boosted by a $5,000 matching grant from the Jeannette Brownson Building Beloved Communities Fund, set up to honor the memory of Jeanette Brownson, a WMLAR REALTOR® who died in 2022.
JBBBC was established by her husband, Jonathan, after Jeannette’s death from pancreatic cancer. Administered through the Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area, the fund provides a 50% match to any WMLAR REALTOR® who donates to a local non-profit of their client’s choice.
“Jeannette leaves a legacy of philanthropy,” said Jonathan Brownson. “She is, however, just one of many REALTORS® who care. Her fund seeks to support, with a 50% match, those REALTORS® who are already giving and those who might want to start. With as little as a $100 donation given through Jeannette’s fund, REALTORS® can get a $50 boost in supporting a favorite cause of their client.”
REALTORS® Who Care is WMLAR’s non-profit organization focused on helping REALTOR and affiliate members in their times of need. It also makes donations to area charities in the real estate association’s three-county service area.
Octoberfest is the non-profit organization’s major annual fundraiser. It raised more than $23,000. With the addition of the matching grant from the Brownson Foundation, that number tops $28,000.
“REALTORS® care deeply about the communities they serve, and the success of REALTORS® Who Care’s Octoberfest shows just how deep that commitment is,” said REALTORS® Who Care President Dan Hendrick. “We’re pleased to be able to help honor the legacy of one of our former members by working with the JBBBC Memorial Fund.”
The JBBBC Memorial Fund at CFHZ seeks tax-deductible donations from real estate commissions which it will in turn match and direct to the charity of a buyer’s or seller’s choice. (For more information contact the Community Foundation at (616) 396-6590 or Jonathan Brownson at (616) 886-1815.
Octoberfest featured games, and silent and live auctions. It was held Oct. 2, 2025, at Trillium Events in Spring Lake.
