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If you want to make a difference in your community, the REALTOR® Magazine Good Neighbors can help you get started.
BY SARA PULLAN GEIMER
Take advantage of the experience and successes of the five winners and seven honorable mentions selected in REALTOR Magazine's first Good Neighbor Awards to get involved in your own community.
Collectively, the five winners dedicated more than 5,000 hours last year, raised millions of dollars, and recruited thousands of hours of volunteer time. Although they serve different causes, the Good Neighbors have two important things in common. First, they each saw a need and had the courage to say, “I can help.” Second, they unanimously contend that they receive much more than they give.
Here you'll find summaries of their activities and their charities' contact information. Please feel free to contact any of our winners or finalists for advice on your own community outreach efforts.
The 2000 Good Neighbors each receive a $2,500 grant for their cause. And don’t forget: In February, we start over, seeking applicants for the 2001 Good Neighbor Awards. This year’s winners are the first members of what is destined to become a large and celebrated society of Good Neighbors.
Winners
 Linda Booker
Realty Executives
18851 N. 69th Ave.
Glendale, Ariz. 85308
tel: 623/561-8800
fax: 623/561-8427
Christmas Angels
P.O. Box 10254
Glendale, Aiz. 85318-0254
tel: 623/561-8800
fax: 623/561-8427
Hard times convinced Linda Booker that no child should be without toys at the holidays. So 15 years ago, with no funds but a lot of heart, she founded Christmas Angels, a program that collects toys and clothes for needy children and adults in the Phoenix area.
Each November she sets up Christmas trees in local stores, such as Wal-Mart and Kmart, and hangs a wish tag for each child. Shoppers purchase the gift and leave it at the store. At Christmas she and her volunteers wrap and distribute the gifts. Last year alone, Christmas Angels gave 25,000 gifts.
 Oral Lee Brown
Nationwide Realty
9901 MacArthur Blvd.
Oakland, Calif. 94605
tel: 510/638-0981
fax: 510/568-3000
Oral Lee Brown Foundation
9901 MacArthur Blvd.
Oakland, Calif. 94605
tel: 510/638-0981
fax: 510/568-3000
e-mail: olb.foundation@gateway.net
Web: localcommunities.org/lc/olbf
Concerned about the children in her blighted inner-city neighborhood, Oral Lee Brown adopted a class and made a promise: Stay in school and I’ll send you to college.
For 13 years, she has acted as benefactor and second mother to 23 children, even though she raised three daughters of her own. She planned field trips, purchased gifts and supplies, monitored grades and attendance, and held fundraisers. She even contributed $10,000 each year to their college fund. Today, 19 of those kids are college sophomores.
 Gil Gillenwater
SDI Group
6910 E. 5th Ave.
Scottsdale, Ariz. 85251
tel: 480/946-3000, x15
fax: 480/946-9000
e-mail: gil@getnet.com
Rancho Feliz Charitable Foundation
6910 E. 5th Ave.
Scottsdale, Ariz. 85251
tel: 480/946-3000, x15
fax: 480/946-9000
e-mail: gil@getnet.com
Web: www.ranchofeliz.org
Gil Gillenwater founded Rancho Feliz Charitable Foundation, which supports abandoned children and the elderly in the Agua Prieta, Mexico, a border town 200 miles from his home in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Just as important as addressing the physical poverty, Gillenwater has created a way to address the poverty of purpose felt by many Americans. His volunteer exchange program brought more than 1,000 volunteers to Agua Prieta last year to work in the food kitchen and build new homes.
 Joseph Pitts
Joseph Pitts, REALTOR®
1801 Seminole Blvd.
West Palm Beach, Fla. 33409
tel: 561/684-2259
fax: 561/684-9310
e-mail: JosephPitts@realtor.com
West Gate Elementary School
1545 Loxahatchee Dr.
West Palm Beach, FL 33409
tel: 561/640-5081
fax: 561/688-5292
e-mail: Westgatees@palmbeach.k12.fl.us
Joe Pitts has been dubbed the “mayor” of West Gate Estates for his many and varied efforts to revitalize his struggling hometown. He has volunteered on virtually every committee of the community’s nascent redevelopment agency to help install infrastructure, change zoning, and launch other developments, including a community gymnasium and a wellness center for indigent residents.
He’s responsible for bringing a $9 million new school to the area, which had been suffering from overcrowding and neglect. He convinced 35 property owners to sell their adjoining land to the school district to make room for the expansion and donated his services to broker the deals.
 Jill Rich
Realty Executives
1745 E. River Road, Suite 245
Tucson, AZ 85718
tel: 520/615-8400
fax: 520/615-8444
e-mail:jbr@azstarnet.com
American Red Cross, Southern Arizona Chapter
4601 E. Broadway
Tucson, Ariz. 85711
tel: 520/318-6862
fax: 520/318-6749
As a disaster relief volunteer, Jill Rich is on call one week a month to help victims of fire, flood, and storms get back on their feet. Her job is to assess the situation and provide whatever help is needed: shelter, food vouchers, new clothes, and medical prescriptions, for example.
A life-long volunteer, Rich also is the founder of a program that provides homeless people with basic toiletries and warm winter clothing. She funds the program out of her own earnings. Last year, she and her husband distributed more than 3,000 pairs of socks and gloves, as well as toothbrushes and toothpaste.
View the Good Neighbors Awards video
If the video doesn't appear when you click the link above, you'll need the free QuickTime plug in to view it. Click the icon into the Apple QuickTime site or enter the site here. Click on "Download the free player." | |
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