I love Denver. It’s why I’ve devoted my career to helping families find their roots here. As a realtor, I have the privilege of advocating for my fellow city-dwellers as they navigate the life-changing process of buying or selling a home.
But more than a decade ago, while packing lunches for schoolchildren at my local Rotary Club, I realized how many others in my community needed an advocate as well. One in every 11 Coloradans struggles with hunger. And one out of every seven kids in our state doesn’t know where they’ll get their next meal.
In 2012, I launched Food for Thought, a nonprofit organization aimed at lowering those numbers by supplying weekend food bags to children in public schools. It was also around then that I learned how many other real estate professionals who are realtors devote time to volunteer work. Seven out of 10 realtors volunteer an average of eight hours per month — a rate roughly three times the national average. And 86% of realtors donated money to a charitable cause in 2023.
When we first started, Food for Thought served just two public schools in the Denver area. Today we serve 75, from Westminster to Sheridan and Lakewood to Aurora. At least 90% of students in each school are eligible for free and reduced lunch programs. A family of four qualifying for this program has an annual income of $29,000 or less.
While qualifying students can receive free or low-cost meals from Monday to Friday, weekends are often a challenge. I spoke to countless Denver-area teachers who told me the same heartbreaking story: Their students were coming to school hungry on Monday mornings.
Food for Thought aims to close this critical meal gap. Every Friday during the school year, our 350 volunteers gather before sunrise to pack bags — which we call PowerSacks — with 10 to 15 food items. At the end of the school day, about 26,000 children across the Denver area carry those bags home.
I’m proud of what Food for Thought has accomplished. But I now know it’s just one of many charitable organizations that realtors like me are involved in nationwide. This should come as no surprise. If there’s anything I’ve learned throughout my career, it’s that there’s a direct connection between having a passion for real estate and wanting to build better communities. Realtors aren’t just focused on selling houses. We’re also focused on creating supportive, thriving neighborhoods that make those houses feel like home.
I know of a realtor who mentors and financially supports underserved children in Oakland, California, on their journey to college. I know of another, a cyclist, who has raised $3 million for multiple sclerosis research through a ride he started in 1995. A realtor in Miami Beach is working to make the beaches accessible to people with disabilities.
Then there’s the Bethesda, Maryland, realtor on a mission similar to mine: ensuring that thousands of children have enough to eat when they go home from school on Friday afternoon. Together, the two of us have delivered a total of 10 million meals to kids over the last decade.
The National Association of Realtors recognizes and encourages this kind of dedication through its Good Neighbor Awards, which are presented to members making an especially large impact in their communities. Each winner receives a $10,000 grant to support their cause. Together, the award’s nearly 250 recipients have collectively raised and donated $1.47 billion to charity.
Realtors across the nation also participate in a week-long Volunteer Days event each year. It’s a time when we come together to dedicate time to the causes that matter most to us.
For many of us, being a good neighbor goes hand-in-hand with our work. We care about the places where we live. Sometimes, all it takes is a little support, some time, and the desire to make our communities better places to live.
Bob Bell, a Denver Realtor®, is the founder of Food for Thought Denver and broker-owner of Mile Hi Property in Arvada, Colorado.
