For the past three years, the NextHome Realty Group has taken the same day off nationwide to host a community outreach event for Luke Day.
“The event is twofold,” said Wendy Ferguson, an agent for the realty group in Conway. “It benefits the community, and we take donations that are then donated to Canine Companions for Independence, a nonprofit.”
The NextHome location in Conway has participated in the project only once before, and this year’s event is scheduled for 4-6 p.m.
Wednesday at Laurel Park, 2310 Robinson Ave. in Conway. NextHome will set up in the parking lot to provide Kona Ice for children while they play at the park and splash pad. Ferguson said organizers will take protective measures by marking out every 6 feet for the line and doing their best to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for preventing the spread of the coronavirus.
She also said NextHome will provide some giveaways, but wasn’t sure what the items will be. She said the group is preparing to give away more than 200 snow cones on Wednesday.
“We decided since the kids have been out of school, we wanted to do something outside, and we wanted to do something fun to engage the community,” she said. “Now that the water park is open, we wanted to get everybody out and hand out snow cones.”
Luke Day started at the corporate
level three years ago and was named after the company’s mascot, which is a little orange bulldog.
“Everybody knows him and recognizes him,” Ferguson said.
Last year, the company participated by sponsoring a dog wash, where they washed about 40 dogs. Ferguson said a lot of Realtors had swollen red eyes afterward because they didn’t know they had dog
allergies.
“We had people lined up at the door before it even started,” Ferguson said. “People were very generous and very appreciative.”
The group raised more than $600 last year, and while the majority of the money was donated to Canine Companions for Independence, Ferguson said about $150 was donated to Friends of the Faulkner County Animal Shelter. NextHome also
partnered with Neighborhood Pet Shoppe for the dog wash, and the pet store donated dog food to the shelter as well.
According to its website, CCI is a nonprofit “that enhances the lives of people with disabilities by providing highly trained assistance dogs at no charge to the recipient.”
Ferguson added that when children are victims of abuse and have to appear in court, a canine companion goes with the child to court.
She said that so far, only about 20 people have registered for this year’s event through the group’s Facebook page. However, she said registration is not required, and the real estate agents have done a better job of spreading the word about the event.
“We have also put out some paid social-media ads, and the water park is always crowded,” Ferguson said. “We are expecting a good turnout, probably more than 200 people.”
She said the Conway group has not decided what local nonprofit the event will partner with this year but expects it to be one that is heavily involved with the well-being of children.
“We don’t know for sure what the local charity will be, but [the money] will most likely go to a food drive for the kids because there are so many kids in Faulkner County who receive meal assistance,” she said. “One of our agents’ mother works for a school and has shared how much food is needed right now, because for a lot of students, school is the only place they get food.”
Ferguson said she hopes to raise more than $1,500, which would double what the group collected last year. She said as this event becomes a more annual occurrence, hopefully, people will come to expect it; therefore, more money will be raised.
“This is just our second year,” she said. “We are doing a more open venue and, hopefully, something that is going to attract more than just dog lovers.
“We want to have a larger audience and double or more than double what we raised last year.”
Ferguson said the business’s corporate office, which is in California, will match dollar for dollar the money the company raises nationwide.
“We learned to do something different and not limit our audience,” Ferguson said. “This year’s event will be more outside and more in the open, and hopefully, more people will attend.”
For more information, call (501) 500-4663.
Staff writer Sam Pierce can be reached at (501) 244-4314 or spierce@arkansasonline.com.