Real estate professionals and community volunteers Tom and Kerrie Everitt, along with their children Capri, 10, and Bowen, 8, are about to embark on the trip of a lifetime. They will tour 80 villages in 80 countries over the coming months to raise money for SOS Children’s Villages.
Capri will sing each country’s national anthem with the local children of the village. Kerrie Everitt, managing broker of Main Street Dexter Associates Realty, says, “Capri wanted to think of a song that the children would already know.
“We didn’t think they would necessarily know the hit songs around here – you know, the Britney Spears or Justin Timberlake or Taylor Swift songs,” adds husband Tom Everitt.
He has been licensed since approximately 1999. In 2005, after the birth of Capri, Kerrie entered the industry and by 2008, she was a managing broker to complement her husband’s role as an agent.
During their journey the Everitt family will learn a lot about global customs and cultures, and promote the message of SOS Children’s Charities – a loving home for every child. Globally, SOS Villages are located in 134 countries, and there are over 2,500 locations and 550 SOS Children’s Villages worldwide. The charity supports and helps families with all sorts of education, training and prevention in areas like healthcare. The charity also funds the SOS Villages where children who are not able to live with their parents or families due to war, death or other issues can find a safe and happy home for as long as they need one.
Capri has been singing and playing piano since the age of five, and Bowen is a prolific blogger on his sister’s charity site aroundtheworldin80anthems.com, where he talks about getting ready for the trip and life at the Everitt house. He also uploads the pictures, videos and other items that appear on the blog.
“The country that I am most interested in seeing is India, because they have the most computer programmers,” says Bowen. “We will be going to Chennai. Out of the top 10 cities in the world that professionals with tech skills moved to, five, including the top four, were in India. Indians like computers and so do I.”
There will be a role to play for each family member during their adventure. While Capri will sing to raise money for SOS Children’s Villages and Bowen will blog about their experiences, Tom and Kerrie will be responsible for getting from one place to the next during the trip in time for each event or gathering.
Tom admits to being a nervous flyer. “I’m not a big fan of flying, but we will go around the globe three times and we are sponsored by Flight Centre. They are not paying for our trip; we are doing this ourselves to raise as much money as we can for SOS.”
Says Kerrie, “I’ve got spreadsheets and more spreadsheets,” each one detailing where the Everitts are supposed to be and when. Some villages have families who will host them and others are unplanned as yet. “We’re going through Airbnb to find places to stay during the trip.”
The Everitts feel that their job is to support Capri’s singing and keep things running as smoothly and normally as possible for the kids during their long adventure. They’ll be moving to a new place every three or four days, so having a routine is critical to their harmony as a family, they say.
To kick off the world tour, the Everitts will be in Ottawa on Nov. 20 with SOS Children’s Charities for International Children’s Day. Here, in front of the Senate, Capri will sing the national anthem for Parliament. She will also speak about her upcoming journey and raising money for the charity.
Soon after, the Everitts will hop on a plane and head to the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Cayman Islands, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Maarten, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, Bahamas and New York, all before Christmas.
With Kerrie working as a broker in her husband’s real estate firm, it gives the couple some time together they would likely not otherwise have during the day. Dexter Associates has 153 team members, including former Big Brothers Little Sisters little brother Chris Campbell, who Tom mentored when his little brother was a youth. Now 22, his little brother is part of Tom and Kerrie’s business and will help watch over it while they are gone.
Yvonne Dick is a contributing writer for REM with two decades of experience in journalism.
