REALTORS® not only help people achieve their dream of homeownership, they also volunteer their time and energy to improve the lives of their community members. The National Association of Realtors® is currently accepting applications from Realtors® who dedicate themselves to volunteer service for REALTOR® Magazine’s Good Neighbor Awards.
Five winners will be announced in the November/December issue of REALTOR® Magazine. Each winner will be recognized at the 2015 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in San Diego in November and will receive a $10,000 grant for his or her charity. Winners will also receive travel expenses to the conference and considerable national and local media exposure for their cause. In addition to the winners, five honorable mentions will each receive a $2,500 grant.
“The Good Neighbor Awards reminds us that REALTORS® build communities in many different ways,” says NAR President Chris Polychron, executive broker of 1st Choice Realty in Hot Springs, Ark. “I’m proud of the positive effect the more than 150 Good Neighbor Award winners have had for the past 16 years on those in need.”
Last year’s Good Neighbor Award winners contributed thousands of hours to their causes and drew a standing ovation from thousands of Realtors® and guests during the conference’s general session in New Orleans.
The 2014 winners were Tricia Carlisle-Northcutt, Beach Properties of Florida, Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., for founding the Children’s Volunteer Health Network; Jane B. Locke, Century 21 Properties Plus LLC, Mt. Pleasant, S.C., for co-founding Carolina Children’s Charity; Edward P. Pompeian, Realty Growth Inc., Rochester, Minn., for founding Gift of Life Inc.; Rosemary Tran Lauer, Long and Foster, Vienna, Va., for founding Devotion to Children; and Paul Wilson, RE/MAX Unlimited, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., for co-founding the Wolfson Children’s Challenge for the Wolfson Children’s Hospital.
Previous Good Neighbor Award winners say their charities benefited from the media exposure that resulted from winning the Good Neighbor Award, as well as the $10,000 grant.
“The Good Neighbor Award brought Gift of Life more awareness in the local community, and more importantly, at a national level,” says 2014 Good Neighbor Award winner Ed Pompeian, who won for founding the Gift of Life Transplant Home, which provides affordable housing to transplant patients undergoing treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. “REALTOR® support was fantastic. REALTORS® from all over the country took the time to send me personal letters.”
The Good Neighbor Awards is sponsored by primary sponsor Liberty Mutual Insurance and realtor.com®. Nominees will be judged on their personal impact on the community through volunteer work. To be eligible, nominees must be NAR members in good standing.
Good Neighbor Award entries must be received by Friday, May 15, 2015. For more details and a nomination form, call 800/ 874-6500 or visit www.REALTOR.org/gna.
