2017 Realtor® Good Neighbor Award Winners Better Communities Through Incredible Volunteer Work

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- For 18 years, the Good Neighbor Awards have recognized Realtors^® who dedicate countless volunteer hours to help others.  The five individuals named as this year's REALTOR^® Magazine Good Neighbor Award winners serve as an example of how Realtors^® reach out in service to help their communities.

The 2017 Good Neighbor Award winners are:

• Sal Dimiceli, Lake Geneva Area Realty, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, founder of The Time Is Now To Help;
• Bryson Garbett, Garbett Homes, Salt Lake City, Utah, founder of Foundation Escalera;
• Howard W. "Hoddy" Hanna, III, Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for Howard Hanna Children's Free Care Fund;
• Louise McLean, RE/MAX Solutions, Merritt Island, Florida, founder of Space Coast Association of REALTORS^® Charitable Foundation;
• Kay Wilson-Bolton, Century 21 Troop Real Estate, Santa Paula, California, founder of SPIRIT of Santa Paula.

"It's amazing how the passion of this year's Good Neighbor Award winners spurs a ripple effect of generosity among others," says National Association of Realtors^® President William E. Brown, broker-owner of Investment Real Estate in Oakland, California, and founder of Investment Properties. "In addition to devoting thousands of personal volunteer hours and recruiting thousands of volunteer hours from others, this year's five winners have raised and donated more than $39 million to support their communities."

Each of the five winners will receive a $10,000 grant for their cause and will be featured in the November/December issue of REALTOR^® Magazine. The recipients will be presented with crystal trophies on Saturday, November 4, during the 2017 REALTORS^® Conference & Expo in Chicago.

The Good Neighbor Awards have been presented annually since 2000 by NAR's REALTOR^® Magazine.  More than $1.1 million in grants have been awarded to the winners' charities since the inaugural award. Videos about the winners are being released today at the links below.

Sal Dimiceli, Sr., Lake Geneva Area Realty, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin for The Time Is Now To Help
Dimiceli founded a nonprofit to ease the suffering of people living in poverty. He personally responds to requests for help by providing financial counseling and addressing individual needs, whether it's paying overdue rent to prevent eviction or providing emergency food assistance, transportation or child care so a person can hold a job.

Bryson Garbett, Garbett Homes, Salt Lake City, Utah for Foundation Escalera
Garbett founded a nonprofit that provides access to education to children in the rural Chiapas region of Mexico. In 18 years, his organization—which has built 177 classrooms and provides high school scholarships—has helped nearly 100,000 students.

Howard W. "Hoddy" Hanna, III, Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for Howard Hanna Children's Free Care Fund
Hanna leads a nonprofit that donates millions to children's hospitals to fund treatment for children without insurance or whose treatment isn't covered by insurance. Since 1987, Hanna and his company's 9,000 real estate professionals in eight states have raised and donated more than $14 million. 

Louise McLean, RE/MAX Solutions, Merritt Island, Florida for Space Coast Association of REALTORS^® Charitable Foundation  
McLean founded a nonprofit to support the more than 2,200 homeless children in Florida's Brevard County with necessities such as food, clothing, school supplies, glasses and toiletries. They also provide nonessentials like sports equipment, band instruments and even college scholarships, allowing children to further their education. 

Kay Wilson-Bolton, Century 21 Troop Real Estate, Santa Paula, California for SPIRIT of Santa Paula
Wilson-Bolton founded Many Meals, which feeds up to 600 people a hot meal every Wednesday. She also distributes 30,000 pounds of food per month through a food bank and, as an ordained chaplain, runs a reception center behind her real estate office where she counsels people in need. 

In addition to the winners, five Realtors^® have been recognized as Good Neighbor Awards honorable mentions and will each receive $2,500 grants. Deborah Berg, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Birmingham, Michigan, for the United Methodist Women's Rummage Sale; JoAnn and Joseph Callaway, Those Callaways Real Estate, Scottsdale, Arizona for Salvation Army; Lara Dolan, Keller Williams Realty Consultants, Roswell, Georgia for Cystic Fibrosis Foundation; Mony Nop, Mony Nop Real Estate, Livermore, California for Mony Nop Foundation; Donna Ting, Tri Isle Realty & Development Co., Wailuku, Hawaii for La'akea.

Since the 10 finalists were announced on September 5, the public cast more than 93,000 votes to determine who would be named the Web Choice Favorites. The top three vote getters will receive bonus grant money courtesy of Good Neighbor primary sponsor realtor.com^®. 

The Good Neighbor finalist with the most votes-- JoAnn and Joseph Callaway of Those Callaways Real Estate in Scottsdale, Arizona--will receive an additional $2,500 bonus donation for The Salvation Army on top of $2,500 earned for being an honorable mention. The Callaways have raised more than $1.25 million to benefit The Salvation Army by recruiting Realtors as bell ringers and through an innovative program that increased donations of big-ticket items to thrift stores.

Two more Good Neighbors will receive $1,250 in bonus money for getting the next highest vote totals. Deborah Berg of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices in Birmingham, Michigan, for managing more than 700 volunteers at the United Methodist Women's Rummage Sale and raising $225,000 per year for nonprofits.

Deborah is joined by Howard W. "Hoddy" Hanna, III of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who cofounded and leads the Howard Hanna Children's Free Care Fund, which pays for sick children to be treated at hospitals when insurance doesn't pay.

REALTOR^® Magazine's Good Neighbor Awards is supported by primary sponsor realtor.com^® and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. Nominees were judged on their personal contribution of time as well as financial and material contributions to benefit their cause. To be eligible, nominees must be NAR members in good standing. More information about the Good Neighbor Awards winners is available at nar.realtor/gna.

Realtor.com^® is the trusted resource for home buyers, sellers and dreamers, offering the most comprehensive database of for-sale properties, among competing national sites, and the information, tools and professional expertise to help people move confidently through every step of their home journey. It pioneered the world of digital real estate 20 years ago, and today helps make all things home simple, efficient and enjoyable. 

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage is the nation's leading originator and servicer of residential mortgages, offering home loans to consumers through the country's largest network of mortgage locations and bank branches, online, and via phone. With more than 7,500 Home Mortgage Consultants across the country and robust digital capabilities, Wells Fargo is committed to meeting Realtor^® expectations and homebuyer needs. Focused on a culture of caring for communities, Wells Fargo is a proud sponsor of the Good Neighbor Awards to recognize the extraordinary contributions made by Realtors^® in the communities where we, together, live and serve. 

The National Association of Realtors^®, "The Voice for Real Estate," is America's largest trade association, representing over 1.2 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

Information about NAR is available at www.realtor.org. This and other news releases are posted in the "News, Blogs and Videos" tab on the website.

SOURCE National Association of Realtors

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