COLUMBIA, S.C. (February 2, 2016) — In October of 2015 South Carolina REALTORS® (SCR) in partnership with the National Association of REALTORS®,  began offering assistance to South Carolina’s flood victims through the REALTORS® Relief Foundation (RRF). As of December 31st, the program has come to a close and the final numbers have been tallied.

The amount of money raised through donations by Realtors® organizations and individuals state and nationwide, came to almost $500,000.  SCR’s small staff received, reviewed and processed more than 700 applications over four months and issued 419 grants totaling $323,238.70.

“Homeownership is top priority in our industry and we hope the grants distributed gave these families comfort in knowing the Realtor® family was there to provide some help and ease the burden they faced,” said SCR CEO Nick Kremydas.

SCR/NAR staff and volunteers dedicated more than 600 hours to process all of the flood relief applications. The unused balance of the funds raised will be transferred to the RRF’s general fund to be used for assistance in future disasters across the country.

“The road to rebuilding our lives and our home has been made a little easier thanks to the Realtors®,” read one of the many grant recipient thank you notes received by SCR.