Realtors Keeping it Clean in Sea Isle

By MADDY VITALE Tracey Yarborough, who lives in Sea Isle City, had to think about which real estate company to work for in her hometown when she was looking for a job. But the sales agent said it didn’t take her long to make up her mind. She went with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach Realtors in Sea Isle. And her main reason had nothing to do with selling properties. “I love how community-minded the company is,” Yarborough explained. Then she scanned the John F. Kennedy Boulevard beach on Thursday afternoon during some gorgeous October weather. Equipped with a big garbage bag and plastic gloves, she plucked cans, bottles and plastic from the sand and carried the trash off the beach. Yarborough was joined by other sales agents in the Berkshire Hathaway office located at 4015 Landis Ave. They spent the afternoon participating in a community cleanup sponsored by the company. The sales team displays food and other necessities they will donate to area church food pantries. Now in its 25th year, the company’s Community Service Day involved cleaning up the beaches and dunes in the downtown area. In addition, food donations were made to the Holy Redeemer Jersey Shore Food Pantry in Swainton and to the food pantry at Sea Isle’s United Methodist Church for families in need. Sales agents Kathie Craig and her husband, Kevin, carried trash bags and scooped up pieces of litter on the dunes and along the beach. “I think this is really an important thing to do,” Kathie noted. “This is one of the biggest reasons why I like working for Berkshire Hathaway. My husband and I do the cleanup usually every year.” Kathie also takes the day of giving back to another level. Every time she sells a home or property, she donates $250 of her commission to a charity in Cape May County. Sales agents and married couple Kathie and Kevin Craig remove litter from the dunes. Carol Hopely Russo, who heads Berkshire Hathaway's Sea Isle office, said her sales team of about 55 agents, including those with dual licensing to sell in the company's Pennsylvania offices, donated an abundance of food and cleaning items this year. “We have a lot. We have canned goods, breads, macaroni, cereal, crackers and pasta sauce,” she said of the bags of food on the counter in the Berkshire Hathaway office. “We have a combination of things people need. We have cleaning supplies, too, that we are donating.” Hopely Russo noted that the company has been involved in community-minded activities for many years. Woodbine resident Julia Hankerson says she was thrilled to see the sales team cleaning up the beaches. Since the cleanup and community day began 25 years ago, the company, which has been in existence for 134 years, has donated over $5.2 million to 250 nonprofits, according to Hopely Russo. As sales agents searched the beaches and the dunes for litter, Julia Hankerson, of Woodbine, toted her lounge chair to plop down on the sand and enjoy the sunny, warm day. But first, she had to thank the sales team. “I just came today to hang out on the beach. I saw everyone up here cleaning up and I said, ‘Wow, I have to find out who is doing this so I can thank them,’” Hankerson said. She turned to Hopely Russo and said she was so appreciative that they cared enough to clean up the beaches.

Hankerson added, “I am really happy now, but I am also happy that there isn’t that much trash to clean up. I have to also give kudos to my good friend (Sea Isle City) Mayor Lenny Desiderio for keeping our beaches clean.”

Carol Hopely Russo, head of the Berkshire Hathaway office in Sea Isle, picks up a can to toss in the trash.