RE/MAX Agent Donates Lock Boxes to Save Lives

With a heart for giving back, Vickie Stiel turned a simple request from a client into a program to assist members of her community.

The real estate agent with RE/MAX Traders Unlimited in Peoria, Illinois, was contacted in 2016 by a real estate client and volunteer firefighter in need of an extra lock box for a local elderly woman experiencing medical emergencies. Because the woman lives alone, first responders previously had to damage her home to enter when she placed an emergency call. The lock box placed on the front door would provide the firefighters quick access and prevent future damage, and additional financial strain, in an emergency.

Without hesitation, Stiel donated a lock box to her client. She also was inspired to turn the idea into something more.

“Our community gives to us in every way, shape and form, and we have to be able to give back to them,” Stiel says. “There’s still good out there, and we just want to show that.”

As a member of RE/MAX Traders Unlimited’s Community Relations Committee, Stiel told the story to her peers and expressed an interest to create “Lock Boxes for Lives.” With committee funds, which are donated by the brokerage’s agents, the team purchased 50 initial lock boxes to donate to volunteer fire departments.

From contacting local fire departments to offering lock boxes to setting up bulk pick-ups for fire houses and making deliveries in her own time, Stiel makes sure the program runs without a hitch.

“It’s just time and building relationships with these people,” Stiel says of her work with the program. “It’s always great to meet somebody new.”

Each fire department that can make use of the program is given four lock boxes to distribute to community members who could benefit from the service. The program has been so successful that two fire houses have come back to ask for more lock boxes.

“The fire departments absolutely love ‘Lock Boxes for Lives,'” Stiel says. “Now, a resident knows if he/she calls 9-1-1, they’re going to be able to get in and help him/her without damaging their home.”

RE/MAX Traders Unlimited affiliates have donated more than 80 lockboxes to volunteer fire stations and seen firsthand the impact of their contributions.

One agent’s grandmother personally benefitted from “Lock Boxes for Lives” following a medical emergency where she couldn’t answer the door.

After hearing the story, Stiel reached out to the grandmother’s local fire department, explained her program and offered lock boxes for the station to use, one of which was delivered to the grandmother.

“It hits home,” Stiel reflects. “The rural areas usually have volunteer firefighters, and unfortunately, they don’t get paid for it. And that’s why we try to give back and help them out, because they’re not getting the funding that inner-city firehouses are.”

From the help of the Community Relations Committee and fellow agents eager to assist with the program to “fabulous, big-hearted” broker/owners and the support system of the RE/MAX network, Stiel has seen a world of encouragement.

For any real estate agents interested in replicating the program in their own area, Stiel suggests reaching out to the local volunteer fire departments directly.

“It’s okay if they tell you no or they don’t need it,” she says. “The ones that tell you they can use it, that’s just wonderful.”

“Lock Boxes for Lives” is one program on a long list of the ways RE/MAX Traders Unlimited is giving back to the Peoria, Illinois, community. From building wheelchair ramps for homes and buying presents for children during the holidays to investing in a mobile showering system for those experiencing homelessness and much more, these RE/MAX affiliates consistently put their community first.

“I think it’s important to remember what makes you successful, and it’s those people who allow you to do your job,” Stiel says. “There’s nothing wrong with giving back and helping other people. There’s always somebody less fortunate, so why not help?”

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