If you’ve been impressed by the depth or volume of community service by a local REALTOR® or real estate office, then the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB) wants to hear from you.

Nominations are now open for the Board’s 2011 REALTORS® Make Good Neighbours Awards (RMGN). These are the highest honours for community volunteerism outside of the real estate industry that the Board bestows.

Sukh Sidhu, president of the Board, says “Over 65 per cent of REALTORS® in BC do community volunteer work, and then you have your ‘uber’ volunteers. REALTORS® who donate time every week, 12 months a year and real estate offices that consistently sponsor community teams or events and motivate their office members to volunteer and raise funds.

“It’s a level of giving that distinguishes these REALTORS® and brokerages because it’s so impressive. It deserves to be recognized.”

Out of the almost three thousand REALTORS®; and over 100 real estate offices in the Fraser Valley, only one individual and one office receive a REALTORS® Make Good Neighbours award. Both individual and corporate recipients will receive their awards at the Board’s Annual General Meeting in February, 2012.

Although the FVREB does receive nominations internally, Sidhu encourages members of the public to nominate. “Generous people are humble people. If we don’t hear from someone who either volunteers alongside a Fraser Valley REALTOR® or benefits from that volunteerism, then we often don’t ever find out about the work itself.”

For more information or to nominate a local REALTOR® or real estate office for a REALTORS® Make Good Neighbours award, call 604.930.7600 or email communications@fvreb.bc.ca to receive a nomination form. Nominations close December 16, 2011.

Surrey REALTOR® Chris Whitehead picks up empty food boxes for filling from Marilyn Herrmann, Executive Director, Surrey Food Bank (SFB). Chris and his wife Donna from Macdonald Realty Olympic in Surrey received a 2009 REALTORS® Make Good Neighbours award for their extensive support of SFB.