RISMEDIA, Feb. 28, 2008-Nominations are now open for the National Association of Realtors® ninth annual REALTOR® Magazine Good Neighbor Awards. The program recognizes Realtors® whose extraordinary commitment to volunteer work has helped make their community a better place to live.
The five winners will be announced in November in Realtor® Magazine. Each winner will be recognized at the 2008 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in Orlando, Fla., receive travel expenses to the conference, national media exposure for his or her community cause, and a $10,000 grant. In addition to the winners, five honorable mentions will each receive a $2,500 grant. Last year’s program drew more than 300 entries.
“The Good Neighbor Awards allows NAR to honor 10 of the many thousands of Realtors who build better communities through volunteering,” said NAR President Dick Gaylord, a broker with RE/MAX Real Estate Specialists, Long Beach, Calif. “The awards shine a spotlight on the important work that Realtors all over the country do to help others. These incredible people don’t expect any recognition, but they certainly deserve it.”
Last year’s winners contributed a combined total of nearly 8,000 hours to their causes and drew a standing ovation from more than 7,000 Realtors and guests during the annual conference’s general session. The 2007 winners were Virginia L. Ferry, Twelve Oaks Realty, Joliet, Ill., long-time volunteer at MorningStar Mission Ministries; Phil Landis, RE/MAX Ranch & Beach, San Diego, chair of Veterans Village of San Diego; Patrick W. Moore, Rowling Real Estate, Fort Gratiot Twp., Mich., founder of Harvest of Haiti; Carol Reza, The Real Estate Store, Whittier, Calif., founder of Bridge of Faith; and Bert Waugh Jr., Prudential Northwest Properties, Portland, Ore, founder of Transitional Youth.
“We hope the magazine’s Good Neighbor Awards will inspire Realtors everywhere-a family of more than 1.3 million professionals-to give what they can to help improve the quality of life for people their communities,” said Realor Magazine Editorial Director Pamela Geurds Kabati. “This award program is fundamentally about calling attention to how one person can make a difference in the lives of others.”
Past Good Neighbor Award winners say their charities benefit from much more than the grant money. “When I received the Good Neighbor Award, it immediately brought attention to both of the projects I was working on,” said Realtor Craig Conant, Warrensburg, Mo., a 2001 Good Neighbor Award winner. “The publicity let people know about the needs of Big Brothers/Big Sisters and brought a great deal of attention to the Children’s Memorial Park. We received other donations and new volunteers from the publicity.”
Realtor Magazine’s Good Neighbor Awards is sponsored by eNeighborhoods, Dominion Enterprises, Lowe’s and LandAmerica Financial Group Inc.
“I get energized by what Realtors are accomplishing at the grassroots level to help their communities,” said Stu Siegel, vice president of Dominion Enterprises, founder of eNeighborhoods, and founding sponsor of the Good Neighbor Awards, who also personally contributes to the program through his family’s charitable foundation. “What I find most incredible about Good Neighbor Award recipients is that despite the tremendous amount of time they devote to their projects, they unanimously feel that they would be less successful without integrating community service into their businesses. These people are truly role models for all Realtors.”
Good Neighbor Awards entries must be received by Friday, May 23, 2008. For more details and a nomination form, call 800/874-6500, visit www.REALTOR.org/Realtormag and click the Good Neighbor button, or see the March 2008 issue of Realtor Magazine.
