“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
– Winston Churchill
At Voit Real Estate Services, we celebrate the spirit of giving year-round because giving back has always been deeply ingrained in our company culture. Whether it’s monetary donations or volunteer work for organizations such as the Challenged Athletes Foundation, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and many others, giving back is a core value we prize in our employees.
Many of our employees donate their time and dollars to programs throughout Southern California and to a wide range of other philanthropic organizations. Each holiday season, we highlight a few employees who have made a significant impact on the lives of others.
This year, we highlight two individuals who have donated the most precious of commodities—their time—to worthy organizations: Associate Braden Sprenger, who continues to work with multiple organizations but is focused on Operation Christmas Child this holiday season; and SVP/Partner John Viscounty, who recounts his personal experience with the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County. We also provide you with an update on the organization founded by last year’s subject, Brian Fischer.
Braden Sprenger, Associate, Ontario
Braden Sprenger grew up in a home that emphasized the importance of giving back to the community. “My mom and dad believed in giving back in any way you possibly could, whenever you were able to,” says Braden. “That was ingrained in me early on. Fortunately, I grew up in good circumstances, and they taught me that if there’s any way you can uplift and help those around you, do it.”
His mother was a longtime member of the PTA and an active member of the local Rotary Club, as well as other organizations, and his father coached multiple youth sports teams for Braden and his sister. At the age of nine, Braden began working with kids with developmental disabilities—mostly playing with them and assisting coaches in teaching basketball. As a high school freshman, he began volunteering at Camp ReCreation, serving children and adults with a range of physical and intellectual disabilities through weekly summer camps.
For the last nine years, his focus during the Christmas season has been Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian organization that supports disaster response efforts—such as wildfire and hurricane recovery—through cleanup and rebuilding. During the Christmas season, Samaritan’s Purse also organizes volunteers for Operation Christmas Child, which sends gift-filled shoeboxes to children in need around the world.
Each December, volunteers pack shoeboxes (or equivalent-sized containers) with a medium-to-large “wow” item (such as a soccer ball with a pump or a stuffed animal), along with other toys, school supplies, and personal care items. Volunteers also include a personal note and photo, and the packages are shipped to children around the world.
“It’s something I’ve been doing since high school with my friends. But this year I’m going to be doing it with Sean Sullivan (SVP/Partner in the Ontario office) and other industry professionals in the SoCal industrial market,” says Sprenger. “We’ll be packing the shoeboxes on December 17. We hope more industry professionals are able to join us in the years to come.”
To volunteer at a location near you, visit Operation Christmas Child.
John Viscounty, Senior Vice President/Partner, Ontario
John Viscounty was also introduced to philanthropic work when he was young. His mother is a volunteer at Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC), and his father is a board member of Miracles for Kids, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting families of critically ill children. So, the importance of helping others was instilled in him at a young age.
It was during his college years, however, that he developed a penchant for mentoring, which is what led him to become involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County. While attending Texas Christian University (TCU), he got his first exposure to the rewards of mentoring at Hope Farms, Inc., a long-term leadership development program that guides at-risk boys. “It was a boys’ after-school program for underprivileged kids, typically with no father figure in their lives,” says Viscounty. “It was a Christian-based organization focused on academic tutoring, sports, and instilling discipline.”
Shortly after starting at Voit, Viscounty began volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS). “I was interested in this organization because it’s one-on-one mentorship, and it’s structured in the sense that you get one kid [to mentor]. After volunteers are carefully screened through applications and interviews to ensure the best “match,” mentors (called Bigs) are required to meet with their mentees (called Littles) at least twice a month for 2 to 4 hours and commit for at least a year to establish consistency and stability in the little’s life.
“It’s direct mentorship that’s open-ended and on your own schedule, which made this personal but also realistic since I had just started my career at Voit,” says Viscounty. “I was attracted to the direct mentoring aspect. Obviously, it’s important to support institutions monetarily, but I was really interested in the direct involvement.”
He was assigned a thirteen-year-old boy named Jonathan, one of five children. “He lived in Tustin, just 10 minutes away from where I grew up, but we came from two different worlds,” Viscounty recalls. “He had a vastly different situation from me at this age, but he was a cheery, optimistic, smart kid.”
The relationship developed slowly, initially consisting mostly of trips for ice cream and burgers and shooting hoops. But Viscounty eventually gained his trust and helped guide him through the events of his teen years—getting his first part-time job, meeting his first girlfriend, and applying to jobs and schools. Jonathan became the first in his family to graduate from junior college and is now a Junior at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
“He was always grounded and positive, and he taught me a lot, especially a perspective on what really matters in life,” says Viscounty. “Even though technically it was me mentoring him, it was extremely beneficial to both of us. He’s a cool kid, and it’s been a great experience that’s been really important in my life.” John and Jonathan will celebrate their 9-year milestone in 2026.
Brian Fischer, Vice President, San Diego
Last year, we recognized 
Brian Fischer, co-founder of Surf for Impact, a surf contest for SoCal commercial real estate practitioners that raised nearly $40,000 for the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) Adaptive Youth Surf program in 2024. This year, Brian and co-founder and real estate analyst Pierce Watumull again organized the event and achieved even greater success, raising $60,000 and increasing awareness of this amazing program.
“Last year we were able to get good traction, considering it was our first year,” says Fischer. “Fast forward to year two, and it was so much easier to put the event on. We had people reaching out to us, wanting to get involved. There was a lot of word-of-mouth marketing from last year, so this year was much easier to raise the money. We’ve just seen the event grow more and more, and we’ve got all these people coming out of the woodwork saying, ‘I love surfing, I’m in the industry, and I want in,’ so we had a great turnout and are looking forward to next year.”
If you are interested in supporting any of the worthy causes sprinkled throughout this post, please click on their link to see how you can experience the spirit of giving.
