The most common public vision of a Realtor® typically focuses on the intricacies of marketing a property and getting it to closing. That certainly accounts for much of their time. But there’s a lot more to their role in their community. Realtors® have a long – sometimes overlooked – tradition of community service and volunteering that makes them strong threads in the fabric of their hometowns and surrounding areas.  

Realtors® here in NE Tenn. and SW Va. are joining a nationwide effort to put some focus on how they and their profession gives back to the community. The focus began on June 1 and lasts through June 11.  

The week’s activities highlight some of the dedication Realtors® have to being a part of their communities and giving back to it. Volunteer days provide opportunities for the public to see how Realtors® fill their role as good neighbors. It also gives Realtors® and others in the real estate industry an opportunity to come together and volunteer their time and resources to various causes and organizations. 

During volunteer days, participants may engage in activities like building homes for the less fortunate, creating community gardens, mentoring children and youth, cleaning up natural areas, drives for food banks, helping pet shelters, and neighborhood cleanups. And that’s just a few examples of how and to what type activities Realtors® volunteer. A complete list is almost endless.  

Volunteer days not only allow Realtors® a chance to showcase their roles as good neighbors and volunteers. It also affords an opportunity for them to work together to make a positive difference and a way to build stronger connections within the real estate industry. By working side-by-side with other professionals in the field, volunteers connect and engage with others in a meaningful way, sharing ideas and resources that can benefit not only their communities but also their own businesses. 

Pull up the NETAR Facebook Page and scroll through some of the examples of what Realtors® are doing. Examples detailed in those posts include Century 21 – Greeneville – agents and their donations to pet adoption fees, a Kingsport event with Engage to recognize and celebrate the success of using goats to reduce kudzu, Keller Williams’ Red Day when offices were closed for community service projects and Weichert partnering with Leading Path Mortgage to ensure hospitalized children got a visit from the Easter Bunny.  Then multiply those examples with what Realtor® families in every community and every state doing. If you look at that big picture it’s staggering and illustrated Realtors® tremendous power to make the world a better place, to work and live.”  

Volunteering is high on the professional and personal traits of Realtors® because it’s the glue that holds a community together. It allows them to connect to their communities and make them a better place. Often volunteer and good neighbor events are helping with the smallest task makes a real difference in the lives of people and organizations in need of that little bit of extra help.  

Here are some examples of local Realtors® and their volunteer projects.