Event Coverage
CSA Recipient Ginny Lear Honored at Special Luncheon
Pictured are Ron Lave, Lear's sponsor from the Rotary Club of Los Altos, 2007 CSA recipient Ginny Lear and Katherine Frey, chairperson of Los Altos/Mountain View District's Community Service Award Committee.
SILVAR Realtors and affiliates and members of the Los Altos/Mountain View communities honored longtime Los Altos resident and community volunteer Ginny Lear for her service to the community at a special luncheon this week. The Los Altos/Mountain View District selected Lear as the recipient of the District's 44th Annual Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® Community Service Award for her many years of volunteer work in the schools and community. She was nominated by Roy Lave of the Rotary Club of Los Altos.
Lear, who served as artist coordinator of the Los Altos Fine Art Show for eight years, has held leadership roles in 17 community organizations, including the League of Women Voters, Rotary Club, Los Altos Community Foundation, Chamber of Commerce, YMCA, City Parks & Recreation Commission, in the elementary and high schools and Foothills Community College. Representatives of these organizations and local and state government officials were among the 120 people present at the luncheon held at Michaels at Shoreline in Mountain View.
The Community Service Award is presented each year to an individual whose service exemplifies the spirit of volunteerism in Los Altos, Los Altos Hills or Mountain View. Katherine Frey, chairperson of Los Altos/Mountain View District's Community Service Award Committee, said Lear was selected this year's CSA recipient for her generosity and her long-standing volunteer work and dedication to the community.
Introducing Lear at the luncheon, her sponsor Roy Lave noted, "Ginny's service to the community is unsurpassed in scope, intensity and longevity. … Her list of leadership service is unparalleled in the community."
Lear thanked the Los Altos/Mountain View District for presenting the Community Service Award each year. She also thanked the many people present, including her husband King, for encouraging her to become involved in numerous volunteer opportunities. She saluted past CSA recipients, noting it is special "to be included with the pioneering community members previously honored."
Lear encouraged everyone to give of themselves to the community and join non-profit organizations "often taken for granted," such as the Community Services Agency, League of Women Voters, CHAC, Festival of Lights Parade, Partners for New Generations, museums, hospitals, including local government.
"Volunteering brings benefits both to those we serve and those who give the service … When we work together with others, we all enjoy our successes, we share our stories, we offer support in difficult times. My thanks to all who serve. I share this award with them," said Lear.
To underline her dedication to service, Lear brought 25 of former President Bill Clinton's book entitled Giving, and placed a book on each table, with the hope of inspiring people to take home a book and make a donation of their own to the Silicon Valley REALTORS® Charitable Foundation. She encouraged people to read the book and, quoting from the book, learn how others "… lift spirits, touch hearts, and demonstrate that … service can be a powerful agent of change in the world." Over $600 dollars was raised for the Foundation, thanks to Lear's gesture.
In closing Lear said, "With a nod to my heritage, the Norwegian words 'tusen takk' mean 'a thousand thanks,' which I give to the SILVAR group. … I enjoy what I am privileged to do."
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The Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® (SILVAR) is a professional trade organization representing over 4,000 REALTORS® and Affiliate members engaged in the real estate business on the Peninsula and in the South Bay. SILVAR promotes the highest ethical standards of real estate practice, serves as an advocate for homeownership and homeowners, and represents the interests of property owners in Silicon Valley.
The term "REALTOR®" is a registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS® and who subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.
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