Red Deer, AB (April 2023) – Chosen from thousands of REALTORS® across the country, the 2023 Canadian REALTORS Care® Award has been awarded to Dale Devereux, owner of CENTURY 21 Maximum in Red Deer.

For the past eight years, this award created by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has recognized REALTORS® that have demonstrated a commitment to bettering their communities and developed a consistent record of giving back. Dale Devereux has gone above and beyond in Red Deer, finding cause after cause to which he has committed his time and effort, and in doing so, has improved his town for the better.

“It began nearly 30 years ago, when I joined what was then called the ‘Friends of Youth’ in Red Deer,” explains Dale of how he got started in community involvement. “We started a lot of programs, we helped build a wing in our Children’s Library, started a ‘Just Say No’ to drugs program that became huge. When I first sold 100 houses as a new agent, I donated 100 turkey dinners to the food bank to feed local families at Christmas. I thought it would only be for one year, but that became five, and the next thing you know, it’s 25 years later.”

Dale’s passion for giving back never let up as his career progressed, finding multiple initiatives to help throughout the years. He considers his involvement in getting a Ronald McDonald House in Red Deer to be a highlight of his philanthropic work. “I was able to find them a piece of land close to the hospital, and now it provides parents who bring their children in for medical treatment a place to stay for only $13 a night. It gives them time with their kids and takes a lot of stress off of them, so it’s a big thing for all of us.”

And although Dale will sometimes gain a new client through his charity work, he’s clear that his reasons for giving back to his community go far beyond business. “It’s really not about gaining more clients for us, that’s not why we do it,” he says. “We took on these projects because it’s what we wanted to do, it’s what’s important to us. Some people may want to work with us because of it, and I believe that good things come to people who do good, but it’s never about business first.”

The REALTORS Care® Award is being awarded to Dale after a nomination from his daughter, Tara, who is also an owner of CENTURY 21 Maximum. Looking ahead, Dale has no plans to stop anytime soon. “There’s a lot more that I would like to do. There’s so many people out there that need help, it’s so critical now that people do what they can. Imagine if none of us did anything, just sat on our hands and watched – that would be terrible.”

Dale will be recognized at CREA’s annual general meeting, where he will receive a $5000 cheque to be given to the charity of his choice on behalf of REALTORS® everywhere. “It’s a huge honour to be chosen out of the whole network of REALTORS® in Canada. It’s a big part of their platform to show people across Canada what our industry can do because it’s massive, and it means a lot to me to be this year’s face of it.”

Dale’s achievement was recognized at the CREA annual general meeting on April 18, 2023.