Smith & Associates Real Estate Foundation has awarded $143,000 in grant funding to 18 nonprofits focused on programs that reflect what is going on in the world around them. This year, the majority of funds went to groups focusing on positive education and mental wellbeing.
Giving back to the community
The 53-year-old luxury real estate firm established its charitable foundation several years ago. It was created to help give back to the community and to help struggling nonprofits meet their goals, said Bob Glaser, the company’s CEO.
“The idea there was let’s try to set aside a percentage of our profits of up to $140,000 a year to community nonprofits affecting housing, mental health, and issues such as LGTB and otherwise, at least within those three pillars,” Glaser said. “My husband, Miles Williams, a retired attorney, is able to do a lot of the work to guide us so we could look at different community opportunities.”
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Williams explained further. “What we try to do is to not only ensure the nonprofits align to our pillars and our goals and target populations but to balance all three pillars and across the Bay.”
When the foundation looked at all the applications, the vast majority were positive education and mental well-being, Williams said. “Noting what is going on in the world right now, we decided to focus on that pillar. The majority of the funding in that space is going to programs supporting children in after-school or summer camps. Or recovery from trauma or drug addiction.”
“Our agents have always given back in some fashion,” Glaser said. “Over time, the company grows and has a bigger reach, and we were able to, yearly, we had quite a plethora of sponsorships up and down the Bay Area.”
Through the process of awarding the grants, he said, the nonprofits meet with Smith agents, and they share information and contact recommendations to help the nonprofits flourish.
Helping local organizations
The Smith & Associates foundation also does annual sponsorships with nonprofits such as Habitat for Humanity. Glaser said some nonprofits funded in the past with grants will move into Smith’s sponsorship program.
“We are optimizing our impacts where we can have the most bang for our buck,” Williams said. “An example is Community Tampa Bay. They have a program called Any Town where they have a summer camp program to teach children leadership. We thought they would be a great organization for a grant to allow kids to get sponsored to go through that program.”
Community Stepping Stones is another nonprofit that received a Smith & Associates grant to fund an arts-based STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) program. And Chapters Health Foundation fundraises for hospice and hospice-related programs. One of those programs is Life Path Hospice Circle of Love Grief Camp. The grant will send 23 grieving youngsters to the camp.
Other recipients include:
- Arts Conservatory for Teens
- Best Buddies International
- Community Tampa Bay
- Cornerstone Family Ministries, Inc.
- Cove Behavioral Health, Inc.
- Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, Inc.
- Family Dream Center
- Grow Into You Foundation, Inc.
- MacFarlane Park Elementary Magnet School PTA
- Metro Inclusive Health
- Palladium Theater / St Pete College
- Tampa General Hospital Foundation, Inc.
- Temple Beth-El of St Petersburg
- The Phoenix
- Voices for Children of Tampa Bay, Inc.
“Smith associates are deeply embedded in the community. Volunteering over 1000 hours in the community on an annual basis,” the company said in a press release. “All Smith associates and employees are invited to attend the award banquet for this year’s grant recipients to increase awareness of each organization’s mission and volunteer opportunities, and to understand the projects that the Foundation’s philanthropic giving will support.”
The company has donated $1.5 million to community organizations and has more than 125 non-profit partners that benefit from the volunteerism, sponsorship, and grant funding available through the organization.”