Appraisal Institute Chapters Making
a Difference
Amainstay of American life
has always been those who
can help charitable causes—
from cleaning up the parks, building
homes and assisting with disaster relief
to funding local shelters, mentoring the
next generation, conducting fundraisers,
feeding the needy and coaching youth
sports teams—do. In 2007, nearly 61
million Americans volunteered 8. 1 billion
hours of service worth approximately
$158 billion. Moreover, tens of millions
of Americans and businesses donate
considerable sums of money to various
charitable causes each year. Charitable
contributions in 2007 totaled more than
$306 billion.
Many Appraisal Institute members
either individually or through their
chapters, count themselves among the
ranks of those reaching out to communities by conducting fundraisers
and donating time for a wide range of
causes, yielding significant benefits to
local nonprofit organizations. Below
are just a few examples of the donations given on behalf of the Appraisal
Institute.
Greater Tennessee Chapter
Charity: Knoxville Habitat for Humanity
Web Site: www.knoxvillehabitatfor
humanity.com
At a time when the real estate
industry is receiving negative publicity,
the Greater Tennessee Chapter entered
into its first charitable event by partnering with the Knoxville Habitat for
Humanity, an independent, nonprofit
that collaborates with people in order
to build simple, decent, affordable
homes in partnership with those in
need. Volunteers and future homeown-
(From left to right) Sara Mack, Habitat home recipient, and Jenny McClure Herchenrider, development
coordinator at Habitat, graciously receives the chapter’s
$15,000 donation from David Shanks, Greater Tennessee
Chapter’s public relations chair, and Connie Bradshaw,
SRA, 2008 Greater Tennessee Chapter president.
ers provide the labor in building the
homes and tax-deductible donations of
money and land by individuals, organizations and corporations provide materials. Qualified families are required
to contribute 500 hours of “sweat
equity” by working on the job site, attending financial planning classes, and
participating in home maintenance and
construction programs. Since 1985, the
Knoxville Habitat for Humanity has
built more than 320 homes in Knoxville, serving more than 1,000 men,
women and children.
With slightly more than 500
members (159 designated and 374
associates), event coordinators Connie Bradshaw, SRA, 2008 chapter
president, and David Shanks, public
relations chair, did not think there
would be any difficulty in getting
members involved both financially and
personally in support of the cause. The
response was overwhelming: $11,000
was donated from chapter membership
and an additional $4,000 was donated
from chapter funds. The cost to build
a Habitat home is roughly $30,000.
Habitat matched the chapter’s $15,000,
and a build was scheduled. The build
consisted of three days of intensive
labor with more than 25 chapter members participating each day.
Shanks also was instrmental in lining
up Chik-fil-A as the lunch sponsor for
each day of the build.
“This project had been tossed
around for years and was finally
brought to fruition in 2008. Our members showed overwhelming support for
the cause through financial donations
and physical labor. I feel each member
who stepped on the job site saw what
a blessing we brought to our deserving homeowner,” Shanks says. “It was
an honor to organize the event and I
know as a chapter, we look forward
to future involvement with Habitat for
Humanity.”
With the resounding success of the
2008 build and support of membership,
the Greater Tennessee Chapter plans
to continue working with Knoxville
Habitat for Humanity, rotating projects
among the four metropolitan areas
within the chapter’s boundaries. The
chapter has already begun planning and
fundraising for its 2009 outreach, which
will be a Habitat build in Nashville.
Fundraising started with a silent auction
conducted at the chapter’s December
2008 installation dinner.
