Business Times of Edmond, Oklahoma January 2020 - Page 10

Edmond Realtor
Kristy Payne’s dedication to others
is being noticed both in Edmond
and on the national level.
Payne among Top 10 in
Good Neighbor Awards
BY VAN MITCHELL | PHOTOS BY KAREN MOORE
I
n March 2016, Krist y Payne and
her husband started Fostering Sweet
Dreams, located at 529 West Edmond
Road, a non-profit that provides tangible
needs such as beds, car seats, high
chairs, and strollers to kinship foster-
care placements along with unexpected
traditional foster-care placements.
That dedication to serving
others garnered Payne, an Edmond
Realtor with Keller-Williams, an
Honorable Mention, and Top 10
finish in The National Association of
REALTORS ®  Good Neighbor Awards.
During its annual convention from
Nov. 8-11, the National Association of
Realtors ®  celebrated the Good Neighbor
Awards 20th year of the Good Neighbor
Awards program, which honor Realtors ®
for their achievements as volunteers
who improve the lives of people in need
around them.
“We submitted an application online
10
January 2020 | The Business Times
for the National Association of Realtors
Good Neighbor,” Payne said. “A few
months later we got a call saying we were
in the top 10 finalists. They put the 10 of
us in the Wall Street Journal.  We didn’t
make the top five, but we were honorable
mention.”
Five winners are announced each fall
in “REALTOR ®” magazine. Winners are
recognized annually at the REALTORS ®
Conference & Expo, and receive $10,000
grants for their charities. Winners also
receive travel expenses to the conference
and national and local media exposure
for their communit y cause. In addition
to the winners, five honorable mentions
each receive a $2,500 grant.
“The stories were incredible and blew
me away,” Foster said. “To be mentioned
alongside these people doing these great
works was prett y phenomenal.”
To further commemorate the 20th
year celebration, NAR doubled the
grants awarded to the winners’ nonprofit
organizations from $10,000 to $20,000,
with the assistance of sponsors realtor.
com and Wells Fargo – an announcement
which came as a surprise to both the
winners and the hundreds of people
attending the commemorative ceremony
in San Francisco, Calif.
Each year, five Good Neighbor Award
winners and five honorable mentions are
recognized. Good Neighbor stories and
videos generate considerable local and
national media attention, which drives
additional donations, volunteers and
support to each recognized nonprofit
organization.
Payne said Fostering Sweet Dreams
received a $5,000 grant.
“We were able to purchase 32 twin
beds with the $5,000 grant,” she said.
Over the past 20 years of Good
Neighbor recognition: