Each winter the team enters the local Dollar Store with one goal in mind: clear the aisles. With the help of neighbors, friends and coworkers, hundreds of items are piled at the registers. As the total price runs high into the thousands, Keith Taylor and Rich Davey grow even more excited knowing that their purchases will end up in the hands of military personnel serving overseas.
Since 2018, local realtors Keith Taylor and Rich Davey have committed to helping military and community members. Keith and Rich have been working together as partners and co-owners of the Taylor/Davey group at Comey & Shepherd since September of 2020.
The team first began their charity efforts in 2018, working with the Yellow Ribbon Support Center, a volunteer group that works to support troops, to assist a campaign called Stockings for Soldiers. The realtors were first introduced to this initiative by Ken and Tina Martin, the owners of Priority National Title Services, after working on closings for clients together. During this charity event each year, the Yellow Ribbon Support Center prepares approximately 1,300 packages filled with 2,000 non-perishable items to send to troops during the holiday season.
According to Yellow Ribbon Support Center Director Keith Maupin, the organization has been able to send more than 34,200 packages to troops since its founding in 2004, giving soldiers “a touch of home and letting them know there are people back home who appreciate them.”
Each winter, the realtors raise money to purchase these non-perishables. The first two years, Rich worked on this initiative alone, raising approximately $700 each year for the cause. When Keith joined the effort in 2020 Rich says the campaign “just kind of exploded.”
“That year we raised something like $3,500,” Rich says. “I recruited my neighbors and we just divided and conquered [the dollar store to buy products]. We went through a lot. It takes a while to ring up $3,500 worth of stuff when it’s a dollar store.”
Keith and Rich’s efforts haven’t stopped there. The two have also taken their knowledge and skills in real estate to help local heroes buy and sell homes in the Cincinnati and Dayton areas. At the beginning of 2022, the group joined two nationwide programs, Military on the Move and Homes for Heroes. Both programs connect heroes with local real estate specialists like the Taylor/Davey Group to help them save on a home by rebating a portion of every commission back to these clients. While Military on the Move focuses specifically on active and retired military personnel, Homes for Heroes also provides the same benefits to firefighters, emergency medical services workers, law enforcement, healthcare professionals and teachers. After going through a series of training sessions, Keith and Rich started providing their services to these community leaders looking to buy or sell homes.
“They are always very appreciative,” Rich says. “When Keith and I walk into people’s houses and we talk about this and it registers with them that they qualify, it gets their attention.”
Keith says that participation in these programs make it “easy to give back and is something [clients] can use over and over again.” Additionally, Military on the Move can be particularly helpful for military personnel that may be moving to a new house without first seeing the home.
“Honesty and full transparency are two of the most important things to us,” Keith says. “We always tell the people that we’re working with that we’re agents who tell you what you need to hear, not necessarily what you want to hear. I think that for people who are buying houses without being able to step foot in it, [working with us] makes them feel a bit more comfortable.”
Community members are invited to join them in supporting these charity initiatives. While monetary donations are welcome to purchase non-perishable goods for Stockings for Soldiers, Rich and Keith will gladly coordinate a pick-up of donated goods.
For Military on the Move and Homes for Heroes, Rich says that the best way for the community to be involved is to promote the program by word-of-mouth.
“If you see an ad on our social media, share that information with whoever you think might use it or reach out to us,” Rich says. “We will contact you if you know somebody that wants to sell or buy [a home]. We’re happy to reach out to anybody who could benefit from the program.”
While neither are military veterans, both are driven to support these brave leaders.
Keith says, “We both really have soft spots for those who are willing to make that ultimate sacrifice.”
“They’re very selfless and their job is to help other people,“ Keith adds. “So we want to be there to help them with what’s already going to be the biggest transaction of their life. Any extra money that you can put in the pockets of any of these military heroes, teachers, educators and first responders is a good thing.”
TheTaylorDaveyGroup.com, 513.580.4607
