Scarborough Breakfast Club does everything but eat

A group of real estate agents and brokers, calling themselves the Scarborough Breakfast Club, meet every Wednesday morning in a church basement.

They don’t waste any time or money on breakfast though, jumping straight into wheeling and dealing, sharing listings.

But not just to make realty deals. They’re working together to raise funds for charities.

Patricia Roche works for Coldwell Banker Case Realty. She’s been the elected head of the club for the past 20 years. At each weekly meeting, Roche collects $2 from everyone.

“We put that in a 50-50 draw and the agent who wins obviously gets the money,” Heather Robinson explained. “A lot of them donate it back into the kitty.”

The club was started 25 years ago as a way for agents to check each other’s listings.

Around 18 years ago, it became involved in charity fundraising.

“We saved $5,000 but it must’ve taken us three years to do that,” Robinson said. “We gave it to the new wing at the Centenary Hospital for their MRI [machines].”

Norman Jones, an agent with Prudential Achievers Realty Brokerage, organizes a dance every year to raise money for the Sunshine Kids Foundation, which funds trips for children with cancer.

Jones happily showed off a letter he received from a nurse who accompanied a group of teenagers last year to Las Vegas.

“It was truly amazing to watch the teenagers gain some independence,” the letter read. “They were able to just have fun being kids.”

This year’s dance is set for June 17. Jones hopes to raise close to $100,000.

Minas Hatzigiannatzoglou cooks breakfast every Wednesday morning for kids at Corvette Junior Public School near Kennedy station.

“There’s a different meal every day, so we do pancakes, French toast, egg [sandwiches], just to give them a warm meal,” the Royal LePage agent said.

The brokerages sponsor different schools with both time and money.

Whenever the club has $200 in the kitty, they use it to help someone in the community.

Agents combine their work and fundraising efforts as well.

Sandra Barnes is a mortgage broker with Scotiabank. At last week’s meeting, she let everyone know that for every mortgage referral she gets before June 1, she will donate $100 to the Sunshine Kids Foundation.

The announcement garnered nods of approval from around the room.

“We’re the envy of quite a few agents that come in from other areas,” Robinson said, smiling. “They just can’t believe what we’ve got going here.”

About this article

By: Maryam Shah
Posted: Mar 24 2011 3:02 pm
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