Good Neighbor Award

Mission

The Tennessee REALTORS^® Good Neighbor Award recognizes members who make an exceptional contribution to their community through volunteer work. Presented annually, the award is designed to celebrate the honoree’s contributions, to inspire fellow REALTORS^® in their own volunteer engagement, and to highlight the many positive ways our members are helping to make Tennessee stronger and more livable.

Criteria

The nomination deadline for 2025 will be Friday, January 3, 2025.
Nominees must be members in good standing of the National Association of REALTORS^® and Tennessee REALTORS^® and have primary membership with a local association of REALTORS^®in Tennessee.
Nominees must be active practitioners as certified by their Principal/Managing Broker.
Nominees will be judged on the level of personal contribution, especially volunteer (unpaid) hours, though contributions of money and other resources will be considered as well.
Some portion of the nominee’s work must have taken place within the 12 months prior to the nomination deadline.
This award is intended to recognize individuals, not associations or companies. If an individual within your association of company can be singled out as instrumental to the success of a group effort, he or she is eligible. If the achievements of two people (such as a married couple or co-founders of an organization) cannot be separated, they can enter as a pair and their entry will be considered as one.

Rules

REALTORS^®may nominate themselves or may be nominated by another REALTOR^®, a state or local association executive, or the organization they serve.
Tennessee REALTORS^® staff and their families, current selection-committee members, sponsors/sponsor employees and their families are ineligible to participate.
Award finalists must sign an affidavit of eligibility, submit to a criminal history check, and be willing to be interviewed, photographed, filmed, and nominated for the National Association of REALTORS^® Good Neighbor Award.
Any award monies will only be granted to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations deemed by Tennessee REALTORS^® to benefit the livability of a Tennessee community or communities.
Tennessee REALTORS^® staff and selection-committee members will not accept lobbying efforts on a behalf of nominees.

Application

2025 Good Neighbor Application

Deadline: Jan. 3, 2025

Nominee Name
First Last
Real Estate Designations
Company Name
Address
Street Address Address Line 2 City State ZIP Code
Phone Number
Fax
Email
Enter Email Confirm Email
Website of Charity
Please provide the full URL. Example: https://tnrealtors.com
Birthdate
MM slash DD slash YYYY
Local Association
Local Association Phone Number
Designated Broker
First Last
Designated Broker Phone Number
NRDS ID#
Are you completing this application and not the nominee?*
- Yes
- No
Name
First Last
Company/Charity
Address
Street Address Address Line 2 City State ZIP Code
Phone
Email
How do you know the nominee:
Community Program Served
(This organization will receive the grant money if you are selected as a Good Neighbor Award winner. It must be a 501(c)3 nonprofit.)
Organization name:
Address
Street Address Address Line 2 City State ZIP Code
Phone
Fax
Email
Website
Is this organization a 501(c)3 nonprofit?
- Yes
- No
Nature of the community work the nominee performed (brief description of the organization's mission and the candidate's contribution):
How long has the nominee been volunteering with this organization?
Briefly describe the results of the nominee's volunteer work:
Who may we contact at the nonprofit to verify the nominee's involvement?
Name
First Last
Charity/Title
Address
Street Address Address Line 2 City State ZIP Code
Phone
Email
Personal Contribution
(Nominees should have made a significant contribution of personal time, but contributions of money, materials, or other resources will be considered by the judges.)
Important Note:
This information is required. Although you may not keep exact records of your contribution, we must have your best estimate in order to evaluate the entry.
Unpaid hours the nominee personally contributed to this organization from January 2021 to present (approx. 12 months)
Volunteer hours the nominee personally recruited from others to work for this organization from January 2021 to present (approx. 12 months)
Dollars, materials or resources other than time the nominee personally contributed to this organization from January 2021 to present (approx. 12 months)
Dollars the nominee personally raised for this organization from January 2021 to present (approx. 12 months)
Number of people served by the nominee's volunteer work (approx.)
Is the nominee compensated for any portion of the community service work described in this application?
- Yes
- No
Please explain
Does the nominee perform the community service as part of his or her duties as an employer or corporate officer of a real estate company?
- Yes
- No
Please explain
Essay Explanation
In no more than 500 words, describe how the nominee's efforts have made the community a better place to live.*

Drop files here or

Max. file size: 128 MB.
Verification of Involvement
Please attach published reports or testimonials from the organization or individuals served that document the nominee's activities. These documents should attest to the individual involvement of the nominee. Please highlight the nominee's name in documents where it is not immediately evident.*

Drop files here or

Max. file size: 128 MB.
Nominee has been a REALTOR® since (year)
I certify that to the best of my knowledge, all information provided in true and accurate.*
I agree.
Who should we notify about the Good Neighbor Awards results?
Name
First Last
Company/Charity
Address
Street Address Address Line 2 City State ZIP Code
Phone
Email
Comments
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

2024 Honoree - Janelle Douglas, eMpowerment Inc.

2024 Honoree:
Janelle Douglas, Nashville

A huge congratulations to Janelle Douglas, our 2024 Good Neighbor Award recipient! Janelle founded eMpowerment Inc., a nonprofit organization that works directly with schools, local businesses, community leaders and entrepreneurs to help students fulfill their postsecondary education and career goals through college prep classes, scholarship applications, university tours, and awarding an annual recipient with an eMpowerment Inc Scholarship.

The mission of eMpowerment Inc. is to support students of color in the southeast quadrant of Metro Nashville, Davidson County by providing them with the tools, guidance and resources they need to overcome obstacles and reach their full potential. We achieve this by providing basic resources needed for student success, facilitating college prep education, offering early exposure opportunities to various career fields and reducing the financial barrier students face through the administration of scholarships and awards.

Learn more about eMpowerment Inc., here.

2023 Honoree - Steven Sharpe, Camp Horizon

2023 Honoree:
Steven Sharpe, Chattanooga

A huge congratulations to Steven Sharpe, our 2023 Good Neighbor Award recipient! When Steven’s not working as a REALTOR®, he’s dedicating his time to Camp Horizon. Camp Horizon is a Tennessee-based charity corporation, and an IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity started by his wife Lindsey Sharpe, a physical therapist at T.C. Thompson Children’s Hospital at Erlanger Medical Center. Lindsey saw a need for her patients to experience life without the limitations that their physical handicaps imposed upon them. Physically handicapped campers are invited to step outside their limits and challenge their horizons in the outdoor environment with other kids with similar issues at no cost.

Learn more about Camp Horizon here.

2022 Honoree - Cindy Lockhart, Proverbs 12:10 Animal Rescue

2022 Honoree:
Cindy Lockhart, Nashville, Tennessee

A huge congratulations to Cindy Lockhart, our 2022 Good Neighbor Award recipient! Not only does Cindy love her job as a REALTOR®, but she has a passion for animals, too. As a volunteer at Proverbs 12:10 Animal Rescue, she has spent hundreds of hours caring, socializing and training rescued animals. Cindy has worked tirelessly to better their lives by partaking in fundraisers and adoption days for the organization, taking them to the vet, feeding the babies throughout the night, and love and heal them until they’re ready to find their forever home. She always has a foster animal at her home, and never turns away an animal in need. Cindy truly makes our communities a better place for all—both big and small!

2021 Honoree - Holly Swogger, To Those Who Serve

2021 Honoree:
Holly Swogger, Memphis, Tennessee

Congratulations to Holly Swogger of Memphis, our 2021 Tennessee REALTORS® Good Neighbor Award honoree. Holly and her husband, Don, founded the nonprofit For Those Who Serve to work toward establishing a new healthcare facility for military veterans and their families in the Memphis area.

2020 Honoree - Janice Robertson, Snack Pack

2020 Honoree:
Janice Robertson, Ooltewah, Tennessee

Janice launched a small program in her dining room that has grown to serve nearly 2,100 children in the Chattanooga community each weekend. The program, called Snack Pack, provides food for children over the weekend, when school meals are not an option. Since Snack Pack began in 2014, the program has grown to engage hundreds of volunteers each month and take over the fellowship hall at East Brainerd Church of Christ. The program also provides children with other items they need, such as coats, school supplies, and more. The individual who nominated Janice described her as “a shy person who would never want” the limelight. “Yet this is her heart in a big way. This calling has allowed her to be able to speak passionately in public about the reality of the number of children who are food-insecure.” Snack Pack is truly making a powerful, positive difference in the community.

Good Neighbor Award

Mission

Criteria

Rules

Application