Impact Report | Giving Back in 2025

WHY WE GIVE

"We have a mindset of giving first and giving back." ~ Bham RE Co policy manual

In the early days of the Cohen Group NW (our name before forming Bellingham Real Estate Co.), we hammered out our core values, values that continue to govern what we do today. Service. Community. Education. Authenticity. Team. Giving.

Each year, we give in different ways. Some years it has included supplies drives for the local school district family resource center. Another year there was a food drive for the food bank. Many years have included fundraising events. And each year, since at least early 2019, we’ve made a donation for every home sold. 

Some years were tougher-we sold fewer houses. Some years were leaner-we sold fewer houses and had higher expenses, making that check a bit more painful to write. But every year, donations have gone out and people have been impacted, right here in our community and also around the world.

DIRECT DONATIONS

Q1: $2,500 to charity: water

charity:water is a global nonprofit that works to bring safe and clean drinking water to communities around the world.

For several years, charity:water was our standing beneficiary for every home sold. Recently we decided to funnel most of our direct giving to local nonprofits, while also reserving a portion to continue to support this important work.

Q2: $4,000 to Paper Whale Arts

Paper Whale Arts came on the scene just a few years ago with monthly meetups, and quickly reshaped the Bellingham art scene through large community events, advocating for public art, and so much more.

Q3: $2,400 to United Way of Whatcom County

United Way of Whatcom County supports more than 20 local nonprofit agencies with the mission of ending financial instability through improving economic mobility and breaking cycles of poverty. They support everything from housing and food insecurity to literacy to resources for students, families and aging seniors.

Q4: $2,400 to Bellingham Food Bank

Due to federal cuts to food security programs, we felt that the most apropos recipient for this quarter would be the Bellingham Food Bank.  They not only provide groceries for thousands of households each week, they also collect and send over 3 million lbs. of food each year to other Whatcom County Food Banks.

TOTAL DIRECT DONATIONS: $11,300

FUNDRAISING

$4,506 raised for the Max Higbee Center. 

2025 saw the final episode of our Star Wars-themed trivia fundraisers benefitting the Max Higbee Center. Max Higbee is a local Bellingham nonprofit that provides community-based recreation programs for youth and adults with developmental disabilities.

Lifetime impact: $17,221 over four years of trivia nights (2022-2025)

Trivia isn't going anywhere! In 2026 we're changing it up with a new theme, a new location, and a new beneficiary. More to come on that!

WHY THIS REPORT

Any business can say they "support local". A lot of brokerages like ours donate, sponsor events, and give back in our community - it's one of the neat parts of our local real estate industry.

We want to go a step beyond that.

We believe that you deserve to know that when you hire our team, you will not only receive five-star service, you'll know that you're making an impact in this community, and also how.

When we select the beneficiaries each quarter, we consider:

• Impact: Who are the small to midsize nonprofits in our area where a $2-4,000 check will really make a difference?
• Range: Did we choose a variety of service types to support? (e.g. human services, arts & culture, etc.)
• Common ground: Do we believe our varied group of clientele would generally support the work of these organizations?
• Reputation: Are we choosing (to the best of our knowledge), well-run and well-reputed organizations?

HELP US MAKE AN IMPACT

Of course, the best way is to make a donation directly to a worthy nonprofit--and there are a lot to choose from! However, you can also know that when you refer your family and friends and they choose to work with our team, that there is an echo of good things out into our community. 

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Bellingham Real Estate Co is a for-profit real estate brokerage licensed at 2925 Roeder Ave #300, Bellingham WA. Designated Broker Leo Cohen. 

All blog posts are written by a human with no AI assistance.