Lansing — Joseph and Demetria Burton can often be found at community activities or volunteering at local organizations, but now they have decided to do more than participate.
The Burtons plan to give an undisclosed amount of the proceeds from the sale of their home back to the Lansing community by giving to local churches, charities and organizations.
Their colonial home, which is located at 1230 W. Northrup St., is going for $132,000 and has been on the market since April, when the family decided to move to Charlotte, N.C., Joseph Burton said.
"I feel like I live in a great community, and I want to give," the 1995 MSU graduate said. "When we leave, we'll miss Lansing and we'll visit, but we want to give back to the community after we leave as well."
He said the family planned to move to Charlotte so he could expand his computer business, Door 2 Door Computer Services. He also said they chose the city because they wanted to live in the same atmosphere as the Lansing community.
"We've been planning to move for some time, and we were looking at cities that were comparable to Lansing as far as demographics and diversity," he said.
Joseph and Demetria, who live with their five children on the southwest side of Lansing, are active in the PTA, volunteer as soccer coaches for local children's teams and have volunteered at the Black Child and Family Institute.
"Regardless of the outcome, people should give back to their community," Demetria Burton said. "We always have the ability to give."
With the financial stresses that nonprofit organizations are experiencing due to lack of funding, Demetria Burton said that a small amount donated to charity could help in the long run.
The couple hopes their idea will spark others to do the same.
"Everyone and anyone should do this," Joseph Burton said. "If every home seller gave $500 (to a charity), it'd be money that wasn't there before."
The Burton's real estate agent, Alfreda Jones of Unlimited Lifestyles Realty LLC, who signed on to help them sell the home last month, said she thinks the idea to give to charity might help sell the home faster.
"I think the idea is absolutely awesome," she said. "For one, it will help the nonprofit organizations as well as some of the churches in the area who would be in need of any kind of assistance or donation."
Jones said other home sellers are also liking the idea to give a portion of the purchase money to a good cause.
"Some of our other clients are going to be implementing the same idea," she said. "So it's kind of turning into a snowball effect."
The Burtons said the organization that receives the money will depend on where the buyer wants the money donated, or the donation could go to an organization that refers the buyer to their home.
"I think it's an interesting idea," said Adia Boone, office manager at Black Child and Family Institute, where the Burtons volunteer. "It would be definitely interesting to see if that is a high selling point for the buyer, because it could be — you're venturing on two things: one, that the buyer likes the home and, two, that they have a giving heart."
