Yesterday I took part in a big community event and I wanted to share with you the great joy of the results. After all the planning and networking for the Project 680 Foot Drive, I am very pleased to say we collected 2,706 pairs of new socks for homeless students in the Folsom Cordova Unified School District (FCUSD). The tally for financial contributions has not been calculated yet, and the number of socks will only rise in coming days too as donations trickle in (just like 150 pairs came in since I took a picture of the calculator app below).

This is great news for me to start the day and I am so pleased how the community came together to rally around a cause as basic as collecting new socks for homeless students. You can check out the Project 680 website or Facebook page for details and read some really great stories about community members making this happen.

We cannot easily solve some of the bigger problems we face in society, but when we put our hand to the plow we can often do small things to make a dent in real local issues. This is exactly what happened last night and this is often how change begins.

Have a wonderful day of life and business.

If you have any questions, or real estate appraisal or property tax appeal needs in the Greater Sacramento Region, contact Lundquist Appraisal by phone 916-595-3735, email, Facebook, Twitter or subscribe to posts by email.

I am very pleased to announce the Project 680 “Foot Drive” and I’d love to partner together to collect new socks and Payless Shoe Source gift cards for homeless students in the Folsom Cordova Unified School District. Not only will new socks and shoes meet a very relevant and practical need, but it will also speak volumes to students about how the community is looking out for them. Getting involved is very easy and does not require money either. Please see www.project680.org/foot for details and let me know if you have any questions. Check out a brief video below.

If you have any questions, or real estate appraisal or property tax appeal needs in the Greater Sacramento Region, contact Lundquist Appraisal by phone 916-595-3735, email, Facebook, Twitter or subscribe to posts by email.

I’m elated to announce very successful results for the Project 680 Underwear Drive. Last night we had a finale BBQ and we counted 2,983 pairs of new underwear that were donated by the community for the sake of homeless students in the FCUSD. This effort was pulled off by a long list of so many community members, churches and businesses.

I’d like to personally thank Orange County Cellular, Coldwell Banker Steve Ostrom & Team, CTP Business & Personal Development Coaching,  Jenny Lundquist – Author, Market Small, Body Investment Studio, The Appraisal IQ, Janice McNally Appraiser & Vice-Mayor David Sander for responding to a specific vision from my company to team up to knock out a chunk of Project 680′s overall goal. It was so good to be a unified front for this vision and we did it together! Here is some footage from the finale BBQ last night. Enjoy.

“We can do no great things, only small things with great love” Mother Teresa

If you have any real estate appraisal, consulting, or property tax appeal needs in the Greater Sacramento Region, contact me at 916.595.3735, by email, on our appraiser website or via Facebook. 

What can it look like for local businesses and households to network together for the sake of homeless students? I wanted to share a vision with you and ask you to consider getting involved.

Project 680 is doing an underwear drive for homeless students, so I figured a group of us could team up to help this important effort by pitching in. If 17 local businesses or familes each donate 25 pairs of underwear and my company donates 100, we’ll hit 500 pairs with ease. This team-approach will help us maximize results and put a big dent in Project 680′s goal to collect nearly 3000 pairs of new underwear by May 11, 2011.

If you do join the team, you’ll get a link below, links on the Project 680 website and SacTube, recognition on the P680 Facebook page, kudos on Twitter (and some other stuff too). Of course, the best thing you’ll get is the knowledge you did something good.

The All-Star Project 680 Donor Team
1.   Orange County Cellular
2.   JanMac Appraisals (Janice McNally)
3.   RosevilleandRocklin.com: Coldwell Banker Steve Ostrom & Team
4.   CTP Business & Personal Development Coaching
5.   Jenny Lundquist – Author
6.   Market Small
7.   Body Investment Studio       
8.   Soroptimist Organization in Rancho Cordova
9.   Mitchell Middle School in Rancho Cordova PTSA   
10.  Vice-Mayor David Sander City of Rancho Cordova     
11.  TBA      
12.  TBA      
13.  TBA      
14.  TBA      
15.  TBA      
16. TBA
17.   Lundquist Appraisal Company

This is a great way to maximize results and do a little good together. Business isn’t just about making money, but about making a meaningful difference in people’s lives. Let me know if you’re interested in getting involved.

If you have any real estate appraisal, consulting, or property tax appeal needs in the Greater Sacramento Region, contact me at 916.595.3735, by email, on our appraiser website or via Facebook. 

I wanted to let everyone know that Project 680 will be holding an underwear drive for homeless students from April 1 to May 11, 2011. A group of neighbors and I founded Project 680 a few years ago to address student homelessness in our community. I wanted to invite you to consider getting involved. This is a grassroots effort with no paid staff and it’s all about local households, businesses, churches and organizations coming together to advocate for local kids. Please see www.project680.org/underwear-2011 for more information and check out a video announcement below. Thank you so much for your support.

If you have any real estate appraisal, valuation consulting, or property tax appeal needs, contact me at 916.595.3735, www.LundquistCompany.com or via Facebook.

It’s been a great week of business, but one of the most exciting things I have to talk about is the official hooded-sweatshirt count for Project 680. Our goal was to collect 680 new sweatshirts (“hoodies”) for homeless students in the Folsom Cordova Unified School District, and I am very pleased to announce that 735 hoodies were gathered by residents, churches, businesses, and organizations.

It’s been amazing to see intentional compassion spread throughout the community. Watch a video thank you below or HERE for details. For more information on Project 680, contact me or see www.project680.org or the P680 Facebook page.

If you’ve been spending any time reading this blog (thank you), you’ve heard me talk recently about Project 680 and a drive to collect 680 new hooded sweatshirts for homeless students in the Folsom Cordova Unified School District. Well, last night we had our finale celebration at Rancho Cordova City Hall and I am very pleased and excited to officially announce we met our goal of 680 hoodies since we counted a total of 687 hoodies last night.

It’s been amazing to watch the community rally together for the sake of homeless students in the FCUSD. Local residents, businesses, churches and organizations really stepped up their game to to make this happen. Thank you everyone for your team-oriented mindset and support, whether big or small. 

Here is a brief video I shot to give you a glimpse into last night’s festivities.

I wanted to share with you that there are three weeks left in the Project 680 Hoody Drive. It’s been great to see everyone get involved so far, and I’d love to see others embrace the vision too. We definitely have some work left in our quest to collect 680 hoodies for homeless students in the FCUSD. Let’s keep going strong and advocate for homeless kids in this very practical and relevant way. If you have any questions or a desire to get involved, let me know.

By the way, this was the first video I took with my Flip Ultra 4GB video camera. I am really excited to have this camera. The lighting wasn’t great and there is a freeway close by, so settings weren’t ideal, but overall I am impressed with the quality so far for a $150 product. Are you a Flip owner?

Beyond appraisals, Project 680 is something really important to me, so I wanted you to know what is going on. We’ll be doing a community hoody drive beginning this month. This is such a simple idea and practical way to advocate for local homeless students. Together we can make a difference. 

If you can’t see the video in RSS, click here. There are many ways to get involved in the flow of what we are doing (the video explains it all). Even if you aren’t local, I’d love to have you join forces and definitely take a photo for the photography contest. I’d love to have some blog readers submit photos. That would make my day.

Questions? More information? Call 916.595.3735, see www.project680.org/hoody, catch us Twitter @project680, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/project680.

I wanted to update everyone on the Project 680 Community Bike Ride last weekend. A group of us met at Hagan Park in Rancho Cordova to enjoy a ride along the American River trails for the cause of raising money and collecting socks for local homeless students. Our official sock and money count will be tallied on Thursday evening, so stay tuned to www.project680.org or on our our Facebook page.

Thank you everyone for your support. Together we can make a difference and be the difference for local students struggling with stable living situations. Thank you also to Keith Klassen, who “raided the aisle“, came on the bike ride, and whose back makes a prominent appearance in the video at 15 seconds (guy wearing black and gray). 

I hit the jackpot yesterday when talking with a local realtor, and it ended up being a “two birds with one stone” situation. Here’s what happened.

Earlier in the day I emailed a Facebook Realtor friend and asked her if she ever sold a condo in a particular subdivision in the city of Folsom. There are ZERO recent condo sales in this subdivision in Empire Ranch, so I want to get as much firsthand information as possible. Well, my friend gave me a chunk of insight, but it turned out that she needed some help because she was having financing issues with one of her deals in the “Rivage” condo subdivision in Folsom.

Anyway, through the course of contacting listing agents for research for my appraisal, I talked with Realtor Ann Boswell of Insight Real Estate. I had never spoken with Ann before, but she ended up being a wealth of information for not only the subject subdivision, but for “Rivage” up the street. Ann spent a good 10-15 minutes on the phone with me (I love when Realtors take time like that. It’s good on so many levels). 

It turns out that since Rivage has not yet completed construction, some of the buildings are FHA approved and others are not. That could be an issue, don’t you think? It’s funny to think that despite these buildings being next door to each other in the same new development, some of them don’t make the cut (yet) to be guaranteed by HUD. More specifically, per HUD’s website, only buildings 1 and 13-26 are currently approved by HUD/FHA.

Two birds with one stone? One, I got insight into the subject subdivision. And Two, thanks to Ann Boswell I was able to resource my Facebook friend with information on Rivage and why her deal was maybe having some issues. But most of all, I was able to give my Facebook friend the name of someone at Wells Fargo who could help her get her condo on the HUD approved list.

You can search HERE to see the HUD/FHA approved condominium list.

I wanted to share some very exciting news. I am humbled and honored to announce that last week the Cordova Community Council graced me with the “Distinguished Service to Youth” award for my work with Project 680. I was not expecting this in any way and I feel extremely honored to have been selected for this annual award. I never do stuff for recognition, but sometimes recognition happens, and this means a great deal to me and my family.

I hesitated to share this news because I didn’t want to come across as self-absorbed or bragging. For anyone who knows me, you know that’s not the way I am. I crossed the line and decided to share though because this is important, friends would like to know, and it also helps get word out about Project 680.

Thanks everyone for your support and encouragement. Together we can make a difference and help solve problems in our community.