Rachel Xavier of Center Harbor, a Realtor with Keller Williams Lakes and Mountains Realty in Meredith, has been selected as the New Hampshire Association of Realtors 2023 Good Neighbor Award recipient for her volunteer efforts with the Greater Lakes Region Children’s Auction.
The award was introduced in 2003 and annually recognizes a Realtor who makes “exceptional contributions to improve the quality of life in their communities through volunteerism,” according to the association.
The award also comes with a $5,000 cash prize – but not for the recipient. This year, the money will be donated in Xavier’s name to the Children’s Auction, which financially supports Lakes Regin children through donations to area nonprofits.
In addition to what NHAR said was “thousands of dollars in individual donations and hundreds of volunteer hours,” Xavier also raises funds for Children’s Auction and has created a variety of fundraising events, including a Halloween “haunted walk” that raised $5,000 last year, and a fundraising cruise aboard the MV Mount Washington in July.
“She has an extraordinary commitment to improving the quality of life in her community not only through volunteerism but also through organizing events that help many nonprofits continue their work,” Children’s Auction executive director Jennifer Kelley said in a statement.
In a statement provided by NHAR, Xavier said her motivation to help her community stems from when, a decade ago, she was a single mother working three jobs and still needing state assistance to support herself and her son before switching to a real estate career.
“Now that I’ve turned my life around, I just want to help other people and families in need,” she said. “Just to see a smile from a parent or feel a sense of relief when we pass out the turkey dinners is all I need to keep continuing.”
Xavier will be formally recognized during NHAR’s Realtor of the Year ceremony on Sept. 19.
“Rachel has an obvious empathy that fuels her service,” NHAR President Ben Cushing said in a statement. “She is exactly the kind of tireless volunteer we think of when we consider what makes a Good Neighbor.”