The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB) presented its highest honours for community giving at its Annual General Meeting, February 20 at the Coast Hotel & Convention Centre in Langley.
For the first time, the individual and corporate REALTORS® Make Good Neighbours awards recipients were from the same office. The individual award went to REALTOR® Lucky Gill with her brokerage Sutton Group – West Coast Realty, Surrey receiving recognition for being the most community-minded office in the Fraser Valley.
Board president Scott Olson explains how important these awards are: “REALTORS® not only help people realize the dream of home ownership, an average of 65 per cent also volunteer their time and skills to help improve their communities.”
“Our REALTORS® Make Good Neighbours awards recognize the cream of the crop of our volunteers,” continues Scott. “It’s a very select group that spends an inordinate amount of time and personal resources to build and improve the quality of life for all of us.”
Sutton Group – West Coast Realty, located in Newton, donated significant time and money to over a dozen charities and events in 2012; including the Canadian Cancer Society, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Guru Nanak’s Free Kitchen and the BC Fire Fighters’ Burn Fund. The office represents 70 plus REALTORS® and is lead by Ishaq Ismail, Managing Broker.
In addition to selling real estate and volunteering her time with the Mannkind Charitable Society, Lucky Gill heads Global Girl Power Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to empowering, educating and supporting women and girls locally and across the globe. She’s led annual walks to raise awareness of female feticide, organized candlelight vigils for Amanda Todd and all victims of bullying, rape and extreme acts of violence such as the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in the US and held empowerment workshops for high school girls on body image and health.
The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board launched the REALTORS® Make Good Neighbours Awards in 2002 to honour community volunteering by REALTORS®. Recipients are selected based on the amount of time they spend volunteering, level of responsibility undertaken as volunteers and overall impact of their efforts within their communities. The selection panel is composed of people outside the real estate profession who work in local charities or non-profit associations.
For individual photos of either award recipient, see contact information below. For more information on the RMGN awards, go to www.fvreb.bc.ca.
