Last October, Leonard Leonard took over the
annual Dora Moore house tour, raising $18,000
for the school. "That pays for both the
art teacher and music teacher at Dora Moore,"
Sonja said. "It really does help them out
a lot."
Sonja also was the 2001 recipient of the Clara
Barton Society, an annual award given to the
highest local contributors to the International
Red Cross. "All my money goes to Africa,
that's my only stipulation" said Sonja,
who donated about $10,000 last year. "I've
been to seven different countries there and
it is definitely where my heart is in the world,
I just love it." Leonard Leonard also pays
for the schooling of an 8-year-old West African
boy. "The money that you send to us was
a big contribution for the education of our
son Agib, and the money came in the moment which
we needed it," wrote Mady Conte, Amadou
Agib Conte's father, in a letter to Sonja. "That
was really a good surprise for us."
Two years ago, Sonja and Lee Lee went on a
humanitarian aid trip to Havana, Cuba, taking
with them $14,000 in medical and school supplies
that they had collected in Denver. "The
people are so very intelligent, and yet they
have nothing," said Sonja. "The hospital
I went to was using equipment from the 1950s."
Sonja admits that she has no problem asking
clients to contribute to their wide variety
of causes, calling many of them her strongest
backers. "Our clients are extremely supportive,"
she said. "It's fun to be at this stage
of the game."
In 1997, when Sonja's longtime friend and neighbor
Marilyn Massey willed her North Country Club
home to the Salvation Army, Leonard Leonard
offered to sell the house commission-free. Organizing
a silent auction, they ended up selling the
home for $242,000, saving the Salvation Army
$17,000 in commission fees. "It was really
phenomenal, a huge success," Sonja said.
"It was a win-win situation for everyone."
And while Peter is still vice president of
the company, he is currently spending the majority
of his time in Saigon working to open a school
there, partly funded by Leonard Leonard. P.J.
is now a sea captain for the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institute and Lee Lee, on top of working for
Leonard Leonard, also is an artist who has founded
her own nonprofit organization called Voices.
Still looking to do more, Sonja is in the process
of developing a program where a certain percentage
of every home sale commission goes towards housing
in a Third World country. "You can build
a house in Vietnam for $1,000, it's just amazing,"
she said. "I think people would like that
idea - you sell your home in Congress Park and
a house is built in DaNang for a family of four."
With their offices located in a turn-of-the-century
Victorian home, the firm specializes in selling
homes in neighborhoods like Country
Club, Washington Park, Cheesman
Park and others. "Primarily what we
do is where we live, where we send our kids
to school," she said. "I like that
it's small and friendly."
With the office cat wandering around and Lee
Lee's art covering the walls, the staff frequently
gathers for lunch or cocktails in the backyard
landscaped with fountains by Peter. "It's
sure nice to have an artist and landscaper in
the family," Sonja said laughing. "It
still feels like a family business. I hate elevators
going up to a corporate sterile existence. You're
at the office eight hours a day, it might as
well be fun."
Other annual events include an Easter egg hunt,
pumpkin patch and coat drive for local underprivileged
children. "We don't do anything fancy,
I want to stay simple and plain,' Sonja said.
"We're all family here.'" |
