The Egyptian Board of REALTORS® (EBOR) donated more than $3,000 to the Southern Illinois Coalition for the Homeless (SICH) to purchase Christmas gifts for the children of families in the program.

Photo of sign outside Southern Illinois Coalition for the Homeless in MarionSICH is a non-profit organization that serves numerous needy families in the 24 southernmost counties in Illinois. Many of the families are homeless. Families work with SICH to improve their housing situation and often do not have the extra money to purchase gifts for their children.

“So many of our families live paycheck to paycheck and can’t afford any extras,” said SICH Director Camille Dorris. “They are genuinely thankful just to have a roof over their heads. So, for them to buy gifts for their children and watch them open those gifts is such a blessing.”

As a result of EBOR’s donation, 33 children had a brighter holiday, Dorris said.

“We can’t thank you enough. Our kids wouldn’t have had anything if it wasn’t for this,” said a family member served by the SICH program.

EBOR is led by CEO Charay Palmer, President Robert Davenport of Realty Central in Carbondale, President-elect Ted Popov of Coldwell Banker Prime Realty in Carbondale, Treasurer Ayn Bartok of All in One Real Estate in Harrisburg and Immediate Past President Cindy Bevis of King City Property Brokers in Mount Vernon. EBOR serves 531 members.

(This is the 18th in a series of blog posts about charitable community work performed by local Illinois REALTORS® during the final weeks of 2019.)