Community Involvement

Members of the Knoxville Area Association of REALTORS® recently joined in the back to school shopping season by purchasing new backpacks and school supplies for children in the care of Youth Villages.   Through the efforts of the Association’s Community Involvement Committee and thanks to the generous support of many KAAR firms and members, 160 area students received a backpack filled with much needed school supplies.

The Backpack for Heroes program helps see that the children and teens of Youth Villages enjoy the same start to the school year as every other child.  The vast majority of these kids live below the poverty line and most cannot afford a backpack or school supplies.  By providing backpacks and school supplies for these kids, we’re letting them know that they are important and special to our community.

Youth Villages is a private nonprofit organization dedicated to helping emotionally and behaviorally troubled children and their families live successfully.  For more information about the Youth Villages organization and the great work it does, visit youthvillages.org.

A special thanks to KAAR Director and Committee Liaison Lee Mrazek who spent many hours shopping for school supplies, and sorting and assembling dozens of backpacks.  The following KAAR firms participated in this year’s Backpack for Heroes Program:

Lakeside Realty, West Knox Realty, Leila Blair-Smokey Mountain Mortgage, Larry Anderson-Southland, REALTORS Commercial, Brokers Properties, ERA Top Producers, Inc., United Realty Group, American Real Estate,  Wood Properties, Brown Brown Realty, Linda Brown Realty, Ray Depue and Associates, Century 21 Real Estate, Jim Sloan Real Estate, Realty Executives Associates, Southeast Property Solutions,  Weichert Realtors,  Gloria Gregory Realty, Hammontree Real Estate, Re/Max Preferred Properties, Slyman Real Estate, Rocky Top Realty Ball Camp Pike, Knoxville CCIM Chapter, Wharf Street Realty LLC, Price and Associates,  Knoxville Area Realtor® Affiliate Council, House Hunters Realty, Jefferson Federal Bank-Billy Breeden,  Maryann Page-Azambuja-First American Home Buyers Protection Corp.,  Star Realty, Paula Thomas –Slyman Real Estate, Chris Burleson-Prime Lending, Scott Santell, Chuck Ward, Master Dry Basement & Crawl Space, A&G Countertops, Jim Bisping, US Bank, Samanda Knight-Wells Fargo and Crown Title of Knoxville.