Kurt Thompson

For a lot of people, when you see a Realtor in the “community,” it’s often a photo of their face on a “for sale” sign, the side of a car or even a billboard. But if you know a Realtor personally, even just a little bit, then you know they are truly part of the community. After all, community is what being a Realtor is all about. 

As an association, we are well known for our advocacy work on Beacon Hill fighting to protect homeowners, homeownership and private property rights, and for our work protecting our members’ ability to earn a living. What people don’t often hear about is what we do as an association to help those in need through the Massachusetts Association of Realtors Charitable Foundation. 

The MAR Charitable Foundation was created in 1992 as a wholly owned 501(c)(3) subsidiary of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors. The foundation is managed by a board of trustees with the mission of giving back to the local community. Since 2000, the Foundation’s signature program has been its Housing and Homeless Assistance Grant Program. 

The program was designed to encourage support for local non-profit groups who provide affordable housing, shelter, and other emergency care services within the Commonwealth. Each of the local Realtor associations in Massachusetts are able to nominate housing or homeless assistance charitable nonprofits from their area to receive a grant from the foundation.  Grants are presented in the spring and fall of each calendar year. Since the program was founded, the foundation has made 182 grants for over $218,000. In total, the foundation has awarded over $470,000 in grants, disaster relief, and other charitable contributions.  

A Way to Do More 

We are very proud of what the MAR Charitable Foundation has been able to do, but we know it could do more if it had more resources. And that day came this February, when the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles started to produce the MAR Charitable Foundation’s “Welcome Home” license plate. 

To better show how big of a deal this is for the foundation, I want to shine the light on the years of dedication and commitment that Realtors had to give to make the Welcome Home license plate a reality.   

It started in 2010, when Realtor and MAR Charitable Foundation trustee Paul Yorkis brought the idea of creating a charitable license plate to the foundation. And in April 2011, the MAR board of directors made it official, and voted to approve the foundation’s Realtor Vanity License Plate Fundraiser campaign.  

From there, Realtors and MAR staff met with representatives of the Registry of Motor Vehicles to discuss the idea and how the program would work. We learned that it was a lengthy process and that we weren’t alone. Several other organizations were trying to establish charity plates. So, foundation trustees began visiting local associations, attending board of directors meetings, attending trade shows and encouraging members to purchase license plates. 

Ongoing Help for our Neighbors 

The initial response from the members was good but getting past 500 applications was proving to be a real challenge and the RMV–required minimum resale of 1,500 plates for production to begin. We then went the legislative route and worked with state Rep. Jeff Roy and then-state Sen.Karen Spilka to introduce legislation that would reduce the required number to 750 plates for charitable organizations. There was enough support behind that proposal that it was added to the state budget bill and signed into law by the governor in July 2015. 

In November 2018, after years of updates and promotions, the RMV finally had over 800 applications and checks from Realtors and friends to process. They could now order the materials and produce the plates. Fast forward to February 2020 and Paul Yorkis, who had the original idea, received Welcome Home plate No. 1 and Realtors who submitted applications are now picking up their license plates!  

Because of the Welcome Home license plate, the MAR Charitable Foundation will receive an ongoing source of revenue that it can use to help the less fortunate across Massachusetts. The additional $40 to re-register your car each year goes to the foundation to benefit Massachusetts housing and homeless charities located all over the state. 

Of course, just because the plates are now being produced, doesn’t mean we can sit back and relax. We were committed to this project for years and we need to be committed to this project for years to come as the RMV required the foundation to post a bond that guarantees that at least 3,000 plates be purchased. 

Now, when you’re driving down the road and see the Welcome Home license plate, you’ll know what it took for it to become a reality. More importantly, you’ll know that the motorist in front of you is supporting the work of the MAR Charitable Foundation. 

Kurt Thompson is the 2020 president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors and a broker with Keller Williams Realty - North Central in Leominster.