PAR's Realtors® Reach Out month kicks off

As a Realtor®, I know how committed my colleagues are to their hometowns. They volunteer throughout the year, helping at local schools, with charity organizations and a host of other activities.

But Realtors® Reach Out Month is a time to recognize the efforts of our local associations and the programs they have for each of our communities. It’s really a testimony to their dedication to the people in their neighborhoods.

It’s an amazing achievement that in the past six years, more than 8,200 Realtors® across the state participated with 27 local Realtor® associations and boards, donated more than $250,000 and collected nearly 42,300 pounds of food and 2,000 pieces of clothing for charitable organizations.

My own local, the Bucks County Association, will sponsor three activities this month. They have a goal of filling 150 Thanksgiving dinner bags with non-perishable food items and a gift card for the Bucks County Housing Group Food Pantries in three communities. In addition, they’re hosting Halloween parties in two homeless shelters and they’re holding a blood drive. Even my office does a food drive which yields two truckloads of food to the local food bank annually.

Other association events I’ve heard about include:

• Beaver County will be joining Habitat for Humanity to assist in construction and in the ReStore. They will also collect food and monetary donations for the local food bank.
• Cambria Somerset will hold a Salvation Army Toy-Raiser, will work to stock and distribute food at the United Methodist Human Services and will help to fill the Women’s Help Center’s wish list of needed items.
• Greater Erie will be supporting Habitat of Erie at their Monopoly Halloween Party & Game Night.
• Greater Harrisburg will be partnering with New Hope Ministries and the Central PA Food Bank to sort and pack boxes of food.
• Greater Philadelphia will collect school supplies for Philadelphia students.
• Greater Wilkes-Barre will hold a Comedy Night with proceeds donated to the Catherine McAuley Center which cares for homeless mothers and children.
• Lancaster County will host its annual Charity Dinner to benefit the Transitional Living Center.
• Lehigh Valley is sponsoring a four-mile “Run for the Red, White, and Blue” with proceeds benefiting Homes for our Troops.
• Montgomery County will collect outerwear for a Coat Drive and will assist homeowners with yard work.
• Pocono Mountains will collect items and monetary contributions for the Monroe County Homeless Center and the Veterans Homeless Shelter.
• Reading-Berks will sponsor its third annual Oktoberfest to benefit the Neighborhood Housing Services and Restoring Hope Foundation.
• Realtors® of Metropolitan Pittsburgh will hold its annual Wing and Chili Cook Off with funds benefiting the Salvation Army’s Project Bundle-Up.
• Realtors® of York and Adams Counties will hold a holiday food drive to benefit the York County Food Bank and the South Central Community Action Program’s Food Bank.
• Schuylkill County Realtors® participated in the local Walk to End Alzheimer’s.
• Suburban West will hold its third annual Coin Drive to benefit Philabundance, a hunger relief organization.
• West Branch Valley will hold Stuff the Pumpkin, collecting monetary donations to benefit the Central PA Food Bank, the Sullivan County Emergency Food Program and Clinton County’s Horizon House.

I’m looking forward to hearing about what other local associations do to mark Realtors® Reach Out. We’ll be posting photos on PAR’s Realtors® Reach Out Facebook page and at PARealtor.org.