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The National Association of REALTORS® is recognizing REALTORS® who are making a difference in volunteer work in their communities or around the world in its 22nd year of the Good Neighbor Awards.
The 2021 Good Neighbor Award winners are:
Bob Bell, Mile Hi Property, Denver, for Food for Thought Denver
Every Friday before dawn, Bell and hundreds of volunteers meet to pack and deliver weekend meals to 10,000 at-risk schoolchildren across 72 Denver-area schools. In nine years, Bell has turned Food for Thought into a powerhouse, with 497,205 “PowerSacks” of food—the equivalent of nearly 4 million meals—delivered to date.
Sydney Ealy, Brooks & Davis Real Estate, Houston, for TWST4Girls
Ealy founded TWST4Girls in 2014. The nonprofit organization works to help at-risk teen girls boost their self-esteem, discover potential career paths, learn valuable life skills, and hold regular, one-on-one meetings with adult mentors.
Brent Gieseke, Exit Realty Professionals, Kansas City, Mo., for Agape Pamoja Inc.
Gieseke wears many hats as a volunteer serving the needs of refugee families through the nonprofit Agape Pamoja. Since 2018, he’s helped acquire and renovate 24 homes, which he calls “Blessing Houses,” throughout Kansas City. He also leads a leadership training group that helps teens learn job and life skills.
Kibe Lucas, KW The Kibe Lucas Team, Wasilla, Alaska, for The Children’s Place
For 20 years, Lucas has been a passionate board member for The Children’s Place, a nonprofit that offers hope to children and families impacted by child abuse. Lucas used his real estate experience to secure land for a state-of-the-art headquarters, for which he also raised half a million dollars and recruited countless supporters. To date, the organization has helped 4,000 children in his community.
Christina Sauger, Charles Rutenberg Realty Inc., Clearwater, Fla., for The Harbor Dish
Sauger founded The Harbor Dish, a nonprofit that provides healthy meals and emotional support to anyone in her community, regardless of their ability to pay. The mobile program facilitates large-scale community dinners which are held on a pay-what-you-can model, while also delivering hot meals to seniors and homebound residents, foster children, domestic violence survivors, and others in need.
“Once again, we have a remarkable class of winners from across the nation,” says NAR President Charlie Oppler. “As these REALTORS® demonstrate every day, one individual can make a tremendous, positive impact on a community by volunteering.”
Each of the five Good Neighbor winners will receive a $10,000 grant for their charity and will be featured in the Fall 2021 issue of REALTOR® Magazine. They will also be presented with crystal trophies during the 2021 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in San Diego on Nov. 13. Good Neighbor winners are selected through a multistage judging process and judged on their personal devotion in time, finances, and material contributions to their charity.
Good Neighbor Honorable Mentions
NAR also recognized the following five REALTORS® with Good Neighbor Award honorable mentions. Each REALTOR® will receive a $2,500 grant for their charity. The REALTORS® recognized are:
- Dawn M. Adams, The Palmetto Real Estate Company, Aiken, S.C., for Abolish Slavery Coalition
- Sharon Chambers-Gordon, Windermere Professional Partners, Tacoma, Wash., for Raising Girls
- Chris Cockerham, F.C. Tucker/Bloomington, REALTORS®, Bloomington, Ind., for New Hope for Families
- Denny Moore and Linda Ellsworth-Moore, Coldwell Banker Hubbell BriarWood-Delta, Lansing, Mich., for Child and Family Charities
- Raymond Siddell, Keller Williams Legacy Group, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for Together We Achieve
Good Neighbor Web Choice Favorites
The public was also invited to vote for their favorite of the 10 finalists. The following REALTORS® were recognized as this year’s Web Choice Favorites:
- Brent Gieseke, who will receive an additional $2,500 bonus donation for Agape Pamoja
- Raymond Siddell, who will receive an additional $1,250 for Together We Achieve
- Denny Moore and Linda Ellsworth-Moore, who will receive an additional $1,250 for Child and Family Charities
“The Good Neighbor Awards reflects our shared commitment to purposeful work and giving back to our communities,” says realtor.com® CMO Mickey Neuberger. Realtor.com®, along with Chase and the Center for REALTOR® Development, are sponsors of the program. “It’s an honor to recognize these REALTORS® for their outstanding efforts, who represent the spirit of generosity and goodwill that is at the heart of the real estate community,” Neuberger adds.
The Good Neighbor Awards have been awarded annually since 2000. Nearly $1.4 million in grants have been awarded to 220 REALTOR®-led charities since that time. To learn more about the Good Neighbor Awards winners or the program, visit NAR.realtor/good-neighbor-awards.