Last Date Modified Friday, February 2, 2018

The Canadian REALTORS Care® Foundation named Laura-Leah Shaw as the recipient of this year’s national Canadian REALTORS Care® Award.

Shaw, of RE/MAX Crest Realty Westside, supports a multitude of charities and activist organizations.  

"Laura-Leah is a relentless force for good in her community," said Ralph Fyfe, chair of the Canadian REALTORS® Care Foundation. "Her commitment to helping others and working towards creating a cruelty-free world is inspiring." 

Shaw is a long-time supporter of homeless shelters and animal rights groups across Metro Vancouver. She’s also the longest-serving volunteer for the REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive, a program that collects and distributes warm clothing and blankets to help more than 30,000 Lower Mainland residents each year.

“Laura-Leah has dedicated her life to helping others. She believes in the power of community,” Jill Oudil, Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver president said. “There’s no better example of the charitable spirit within our wider REALTOR® community than Laura-Leah.”

For more than 15 years, Shaw has worked with Choices Markets to make weekly deliveries of nutritional food to the Lookout Society in Vancouver, an emergency aid organization that helps the city’s most vulnerable. She delivered more than 2,500 boxes of food last year – as well as furniture, clothes and appliances – to the Lookout Society and similar organizations.

"Being honoured with the Canadian REALTORS Care® Award is truly humbling. It’s not an award for me, it’s an award for all the people and animals in need that we can touch and help," said Shaw. "Helping those in need feeds my soul. I hope to use the award to bring new ideas of how to help and encourage the generous giving spirit in even more REALTORS®."

Shaw’s compassion also extends to animal rights. She’s president of the Anti-Vivisection Society of British Columbia, advocating for an end to animal testing, and has volunteered with the Vancouver Humane Society for 12 years.

In recognition of the award, the Canadian REALTORS Care® Foundation will donate $5,000 to Animal Justice Canada – a registered non-profit animal law organization close to Shaw’s heart.

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