When
Lara Gordon Caralis met the founder and CEO of Second
Chances through a real estate transaction several years ago,
she was immediately drawn to the organization’s mission to
put donated clothing to work for our community, diverting clothing,
shoes, and accessories from local landfills while helping our
neighbors in need take their first steps toward brighter futures.
Each February since 2017, Lara has led the “Love Your
Neighbor” clothing drive in celebration of Valentine’s
Day. Lara coordinates the drive through our offices in Cambridge
and Arlington and has seen great success year after
year.
Read on
to learn more about Lara’s partnership with Second
Chances and her advice for agents who wish to support their
local communities.
Tell us a
bit about Second Chances! What inspired you to get involved with
this organization initially?
Second Chances is a Somerville-based non-profit that provides
clothing to homeless and low-income people in Cambridge,
Somerville, and neighboring communities. I became acquainted with
Andrea Shapiro, the founder and CEO, during a real estate
transaction several years ago, and she introduced me to the
organization.
Do
you have any fun memories or highlights from drives over the years?
What are some of the challenges you’ve faced?
This is our seventh year running the Love Your Neighbor drive, and
it feels like we’ve got it down to a pretty good system. The
biggest challenge we have faced was in 2022, when the parking in
front of our office at 1008 Massachusetts Avenue was replaced with
bike lanes, and we had to change the drop-off location to our
smaller office in Porter Square. But ultimately it worked out well
and enabled us to invite our Arlington team to join the drive. The
additional support of the Arlington office doubled the amount of
donations we were able to collect.
The funniest memory I can recall is picking up my husband’s
donation bags and inadvertently grabbing a bag that he meant to
take to be dry cleaned. It had a couple of his favorite sweaters
and a suit. He was not happy, but fortunately, the team at Second
Chances went through all the donated bags until they found his
clothes — I actually can’t believe he got them
back.
As an agent focused on philanthropic giving, how do you stay
engaged throughout the year?
Time is always an issue as a busy agent, and I know my limits, so I
try to do what I can when real estate is quieter. In October, I
sell pies for Community Servings’ Pie in the Sky fundraiser,
and I tackle the Second Chances clothing drive in February before
the spring market kicks in. The rest of the year, I just squeeze in
what I can with community clean-ups, tree plantings and other local
initiatives in my neighborhood.
Do
you have any recommendations for those considering taking a deeper
dive into philanthropy?
There are so many options out there, so it’s pretty easy to
find something to meet every kind of interest. And while some
organizations might want more of a time commitment, most are
flexible and happy to get whatever help you’re able to give, be
it an hour per week, an annual initiative, or a few hours here and
there as time allows. And when time is short, financial donations
are always appreciated.
To
learn how you can contribute to Second Chances mission, visit
www.secondchances.org.
Connect
with
Lara Gordon Caralis at 617.710.4632 or
Lara.Gordon@GibsonSIR.com, or visit Gibson Sotheby’s
International Realty’s office at 1008 Massachusetts Avenue,
Cambridge, Massachusetts.