For three
years now, I have been truly honored to represent Boston Globe Media and present
the Greater Boston Association of REALTORS’ Good Neighbor Award at their annual
awards ceremony. This year it was held
outside at the Museum of Science in a tented pavilion along the banks of the
Charles River, an absolutely beautiful venue.
Each year, I
get to describe to the association membership how much one special REALTOR has
given back to their community. I am
always in awe of their generosity and volunteer work with non-profit
organizations. I leave inspired by their
example to help out much more in my own community. But then I get busy with my long work week, my
long commute, and overall life just gets in the way of good intentions. That’s what amazes me the most about Good
Neighbor Award winners – life doesn’t get in the way – their giving back
becomes a way of life.
The Good Neighbor Award was created in 2008 and is modeled after a
similar award presented by the National and Massachusetts Associations of
REALTORS®. The award recognizes real
estate professionals who have made a commitment to improving the quality of
life in their communities through volunteer work.
This year’s Good Neighbor Award winner was Joel Pratt of JL Pratt
REALTORS in Canton, MA. He has been
working with MatchingDonors.com for 9 years. Whether he is with another
REALTOR®, a prospective buyer, or a closing attorney, he uses his real estate
career to also provide information about his organization, and he has saved
lives in the process. How could that happen? Well, when a busy father with four
adopted special needs children needed a kidney transplant, his future wasn’t
looking so good. But his father, a real estate instructor, met with a real
estate accountant, who had received a business card from Joel for
matchingdonors.com, and almost as quickly as he could register on the site, a
donor match was made, and that father of four now lives a happy, healthy life.
Joel’s goal is to save at least 1,000 people in need of organ transplants.
He has personally paid the $595 membership on MatchingDonors.com for patients
that could not afford the fee. In the last 18 months alone, he has volunteered
2,400 hours (30 hours plus a week), personally donated $50,000, helped raise
$1,250,000 and has indirectly helped over 250,000 people.
Joel takes donations such as cars, boats, real estate, and corporate surplus and turns it into cash; raising millions of dollars for MatchingDonors.com. As the Director of Business Development for MatchingDonors.com, he and his team have been recognized by Governor Patrick as well as the State Senate and House of Representatives, and they were selected as the “Nonprofit of Choice” at the Hollywood Awards in Beverly Hills earlier this year.
GBAR’s Award Winners knows what it takes to be a Good Neighbor, always
focused on how to help those who have lost all hope.
Along with winning the GBAR 2013 Good Neighbor Award, GBAR awarded a
$2,500 grant to Joel for MatchingDonors.com.
Joel Pratt from J.L. Pratt REALTORS® in Canton the 2013 GBAR Good Neighbor Award winner.
