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Post-Builders' Show House Tour Raises $20,000 for Kidney Foundation, Charity

The charity-oriented tours were spearheaded by Kim Goehring, president of Goehring and Morgan Construction in Orlando, Fla. Goehring, a kidney transplant patient, built The New American Home and thought that he could successfully raise money for the foundation by opening the house to public tours after the builders’ show.

“Anytime I see an opportunity that can help the Kidney Foundation, I put my efforts into it,” Goehring said. He scheduled the public tours for after the International Builders’ Show, but before the new owners, who purchased The New American Home just prior to the builders’ show, moved in. Tickets for the tour were $5 per person.

The charity tours drew 4,000 visitors and raised about three times as much as Goehring originally anticipated. “We thought that we would raise about $6,000 or $7,000 but we raised way more,” Goehring said. “The crowds were phenomenal. We had 800 or 900 people through each day of the weekend.”

Goehring said about $15,000 from the proceeds were donated to the National Kidney Foundation. His local home builders association foundation, which supports projects including YMCA, Boys Club, children’s eye care and children’s safety programs, was given about $5,000.

Goehring credits community support for the large turnout. The Orlando Sentinel donated and produced several ads promoting the tour. The Baldwin Park Development Company, which developed the 11,000-acre Baldwin Park community where the show house is located, donated funding for radio ads to promote the tour. In addition, the developer bought tour tickets for its Baldwin Park residents.

“We think that just about as many people toured the home after the show as during it,” Goehring said.

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