LIBOR Gives Back This Holiday Season with $10,000 in Donations and Hands-On Community Support

This holiday season, Long Island Board of REALTORS® (LIBOR) contributed $10,000 in combined donations to support essential community programs serving Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk counties. The funds were distributed to Island Harvest, Impactful Lives, and Catholic Charities of Brooklyn & Queens (CCBQ) to strengthen holiday outreach efforts and help ensure local families receive critical resources during this meaningful time of year. In addition to financial support, LIBOR members dedicated their time and service through hands-on volunteer initiatives.

“As REALTORS®, serving our communities is at the heart of what we do,” said LIBOR President Mark Donnelly. “This season, we are proud to support organizations that uplift Long Islanders and ensure that no one is forgotten during the holidays. By combining financial contributions with hands-on volunteerism, our members continue to make a meaningful and lasting impact.”

On December 16, LIBOR volunteers partnered with Impactful Lives, a community-based initiative founded by REALTOR® Natasha Williams, to support unhoused mothers and their children currently residing in shelters—families for whom the holiday season can be especially challenging amid housing instability. LIBOR’s financial support and volunteer involvement played a critical role in the organization’s Meet the Mom holiday giveaway, providing these families access to timely and much-needed support during this vulnerable time.

With LIBOR’s support, Impactful Lives was able to provide its signature Warm Care Kits, thoughtfully assembled to address both immediate and practical needs. Each kit included groceries to help families stretch their meals, warm outerwear for children during the colder months, laundry care essentials to support daily routines, as well as toys and clothing designed to bring comfort and moments of joy. More than basic supplies, these kits served as tangible reminders that these mothers and their children are seen, valued, and supported by their community.

“We are deeply grateful to LIBOR for their generous support of our Meet the Mom holiday giveaway,” said Williams. “As a grassroots organization, our work is centered on meeting unhoused mothers where they are and responding to real, immediate needs. LIBOR’s support went far beyond a financial contribution—it reflected a genuine commitment to dignity, compassion, and community partnership. Their involvement helped create a welcoming and uplifting environment for mothers during a season that can be especially uncertain, and it reinforced the power of community-driven solutions to strengthen families and neighborhoods.”

The holiday season can also be especially challenging for food-insecure households, particularly as economic pressures have led many Long Islanders to seek assistance for the first time. On December 18, LIBOR volunteers joined Island Harvest at its Melville warehouse to assemble essential food boxes for daily distribution programs. Volunteers packed more than 640 senior meal boxes and prepared 13,653 meals through the USDA’s Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), which provides monthly non-perishable food items to over 5,700 seniors across Long Island. These Senior Food Boxes deliver more than just nourishment—they offer hope, dignity, and a vital sense of connection, particularly for homebound seniors.

These efforts support LIBOR’s ongoing REALTORS® Against Hunger (RAH) campaign, launched in 2008 to combat hunger and poverty in local communities. As part of this commitment, LIBOR also donated $5,000 to Island Harvest’s Turkey and Trimmings Collection Campaign, encouraging holiday meal donations for families in need. Additionally, LIBOR collected 205 pounds of food at its headquarters in Melville through a collaborative effort with affiliate member Nationwide, which organized a food drive at its office located in the same building.

LIBOR also proudly sponsored Catholic Charities of Brooklyn & Queens’ Annual Santa’s Toy Shops, now in its 15th year, an initiative that brings holiday joy to thousands of children and families across Brooklyn and Queens. The program enables parents and caregivers to personally select age-appropriate gifts for children ages 0 to 17, offering families the opportunity to provide holiday presents when financial hardship might otherwise make it impossible. LIBOR’s support helped ensure the timely delivery of toys to the Toy Shops at St. Gabriel Church in Queens.

Through these collective efforts, LIBOR reaffirms its unwavering commitment to strengthening communities, supporting vulnerable neighbors, and helping create a brighter holiday season for Long Islanders across the region.