Austin Board of REALTORS® Foundation to donate $20,000 to Central Texas nonprofits
Funds to be used for COVID-19 relief
AUSTIN, TX – The Austin Board of REALTORS® (ABoR) Foundation has committed combined $20,000 to four Central Texas nonprofit organizations. As part of ABoR Foundation’s Give Back Program, Meals on Wheels Central Texas, Central Texas Food Bank, Family Eldercare and the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH) Front Steps will receive $5,000 each. The funds will help provide meals and life-saving supplies for some of our community’s most vulnerable in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“At a time when so many of our community have been impacted by this pandemic, no one should have to worry about access to meals or essential services,” Romeo Manzanilla, ABoR president, said. “Through the ABoR Foundation, Austin REALTORS® are providing meals, fans or masks for over 56,500 of our neighbors. We’re proud to support each of these organizations in continuing to fulfill their important missions during these difficult times.”
The Central Texas Food Bank covers a 21-county service area and can provide four meals to Central Texas families from a one dollar donation. The ABoR Foundation’s $5,000 donation is being matched 2:1 in partnership with ShipStation and the Straube Family meaning our donation is bringing in $10,000 to the food bank and will provide 40,000 meals to families across the region. For more information on how you can volunteer at the Central Texas Food Bank, visit their website here.
“The Austin Board of REALTORS® Foundation’s $5,000 gift could not come at a better time,” Derrick Chubbs, president and CEO of the Central Texas Food Bank, said. “Responding to the unprecedented need created by the COVID-19 pandemic has stretched our resources to the limit, but Central Texans can continue to turn to the Food Bank in this difficult time because of our generous donors. Thanks to our July matching challenge, the impact of this gift will be doubled, providing 40,000 meals for our neighbors in need.”
The ABoR Foundation’s donation to Family Eldercare will go to their Summer Fan Drive—a program which, for 30 years, has worked to provide the community with relief from the Texas heat. The ABoR Foundation’s contribution will provide 7,000 fans and that provide life-saving heat relief to 12,000 Central Texans this summer. For more information on Family Eldercare and their upcoming July fundraiser, visit their website here.
“We want the community to know COVID-19 is not slowing us down,” Kent Herring, chief executive officer of Family Eldercare, said. “High heat and high humidity are dangerous and not going away. ABoR is helping Family Eldercare keep seniors, adults with disabilities, and families experiencing hardship safe from heat-related illnesses with our no-contact Summer Fan Drive.”
The Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH) serves as the first point of contact into the homeless social service system for many of Austin’s adults experiencing homelessness. The ABoR Foundation is donating 3,000 cloth masks, $1,000 in HEB gift cards, and $1,000 in CapMetro bus passes. The Boutique Real Estate partnered with the ABoR Foundation to provide 1,500 of the masks. The gift cards and bus passes will keep 50 Austinites from having to choose between affording food and transportation. For more information about Front Steps and the ARCH, visit their website here.
“ABOR’s engagement on issues related to housing and homelessness is a well-established commitment in this community—and we are thankful,” Amy Price, director of development and communications for Front Steps, said, “The $5,000 worth of critically needed items being donated at this time will help our clients immediately, even as our staff work to move individuals from shelter/streets to stable housing options. A bus pass may get a client to a job interview so they can earn the money for a security deposit. A grocery store gift card may buy the first groceries that will go into the fridge of a newly-housed client. And the masks are necessary for us to continue our 24/7 essential services, as we continue to operate shelter services downtown throughout these challenging COVID closures.”
Meals on Wheels Central Texas seeks to nourish and enrich the lives of the Central Texas community by distributing 3,000 meals each business day to homebound elderly adults and people with disabilities. The ABoR Foundation’s $5,000 donation will be used to provide more than 1,500 meals to seniors and adults living with disabilities across 21 counties in the greater Austin area. For more information about Meals on Wheels Central Texas, visit their website here.
“The Austin Board of REALTORS® and its members help folks find their dream home. At the same time, Meals on Wheels Central Texas programs help our older neighbors to continue living in the home of their dreams as they age in place with dignity. Thanks to ABoR’s generous support of our mission, we are able to nourish clients’ lives in the middle of a pandemic, when they need our services the most,” Adam Hauser, President/CEO of Meals on Wheels Central Texas, said.
Since 1978, the ABoR Foundation has connected the philanthropic passion of our REALTORS® and helped mobilize support for our community in times of need. Over the years, the Foundation and Central Texas REALTORS® have donated tens of thousands of dollars, plus hundreds of hours working hands-on, to local disaster relief and has partnered with community organizations like the Red Cross to provide funding and relief including for the victims of Hurricane Harvey, the Memorial Day and Halloween floods. Its mission continues during the COVID-19 pandemic through these donations.
The Austin Board of REALTORS® (ABoR) is a nonprofit organization that has been serving the needs of Austin REALTORS® and consumers for more than 90 years. ABoR provides technology, education and advocacy for more than 13,000 members, as well as monthly housing market reports for Travis, Hays, Williamson, Bastrop and Caldwell counties. ABoR’s market reports include the most accurate multiple listing service (MLS) findings for the Austin area. For more information, contact the ABoR public relations team at abor@echristianpr.com or 512-454-7636. For the latest local housing market listings, visit AustinHomeSearch.com.
The Austin Board of REALTORS® (ABoR) Foundation connects the philanthropic passion of Central Texas REALTORS® to worthy local causes related to housing, education and disaster relief. As a mechanism for real estate professionals to donate their time, talent and resources to charitable outlets, the ABoR Foundation helps impact, sustain and support the Austin-area community. For more information, please visit www.ABoR.com/Foundation.