Marla Martin, Communications Manager, or Jeff Zipper, Vice President of Communications
407/438-1400, ext. 2326 or 2314
FAR Honors Orlando and Broward County Realtors® As 2006 Humanitarian of the Year Co-Recipients
ORLANDO, Fla., October 2006 — Broward County Realtor® Charles "Chuck" Bonfiglio and Orlando area Realtor Steve Chitwood were recently named 2006 Realtor Humanitarian of the Year co-recipients by the 155,000-plus-member Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR). The award was presented at FAR’s recent 90th annual Convention & Trade Expo in Hollywood, Fla.
Bonfiglio is a member of the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Lauderdale ®. For more than 22 years, he has been dedicated to Easter Seals, a community-based nonprofit health and human services agency that provides medical rehabilitation and vocational services to people with physical, neurological and communication disabilities.
Bonfiglio gives time as well as money to his cause, and also recruits his management team to volunteer. In the past three years, he has raised more than a quarter of a million dollars for Easter Seals of Broward County.
Ask him why he does it, and he says, simply: "It's for the kids. They are the ones who have so many obstacles to overcome and gain so much from the work of the staff of Easter Seals."
In addition to his work with Easter Seals, Bonfiglio also is a member of the Cattleman's Club, dedicated to the development of a "Mariner's Club" for the Boys and Girls Club. He serves on the board of directors for the Boys and Girls Club, contributes funding to Catholic Charities and is a member of the Prestige Club, which provides educational programs for children.
A member of the Orlando Regional Realtor® Association, Steve Chitwood was recognized for "Art in Architecture," the innovative affordable housing program he developed and brought to ORRA four years ago. The program removes the stigma of unattractive design and boxy structures that often typify affordable housing. By incorporating architecturally significant changes to affordable housing design, communities no longer steer such developments to specifically designated sections of town; instead, the homes can be included in any neighborhood.
Chitwood recruited architects, builders, banks, local governments and Realtors as partners in the program. To date, two "Art in Architecture" projects have been completed -- the Holden Heights project in unincorporated Orange County and 10 more homes as part of the Canton Park Redevelopment Initiative in Winter Park. A third project will break ground this fall, with plans to build 60 townhouses on eight lots in the Holden Heights community.
Chitwood also is a member of the Central Florida Affordable Housing Round Table, a board member of Orange County's Lake Sue Development and serves on Orange County's Housing and Neighborhood Development Services.
For their contributions to the real estate profession and the community, Chuck Bonfiglio and Steve Chitwood have been honored with one of FAR’s top awards.
The Florida Association of Realtors, the voice for real estate in Florida, provides programs, services, continuing education, research and legislative representation for its more than 155,000 members in 68 local boards/associations. FAR's Media Center Web site is available at http://media.living.net.
© 2006 FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
