The Mirror Newspapers Reflecting Life Along The Maumee River
BY KRISTI FISH | MIRROR REPORTER — Eddie Campos is passionate about a lot of things, but the community in which he has decided to make his home and raise his family is definitely near the top.
Campos received several nominations and will receive the Maumee Outstanding Citizen Award at the 47th annual Hometown Hero Awards Banquet on Thursday, March 10.
The Outstanding Citizen Award is presented to an individual who has improved the Maumee community.
When nominating Campos, Kati McDougle thought he deserved the award because of his devotion to all parts of Maumee and his philanthropic projects.
“The entire time I’ve had the privilege of working with him, he has been a huge supporter of the city of Maumee,” McDougle said. “He supports the schools, he supports the government, he supports the chamber. He is actively involved in making sure the community that he is working in and that he lives in is successful.”
Campos is not originally from Maumee, but he started working in the area and became involved with the Maumee Chamber of Commerce 15 years ago. From that point on, he started becoming more active within the community.
“Eight years ago, my wife and I got engaged and I said, ‘You live somewhere else, and I live somewhere else, but I’ve always wanted to live in Maumee. Can we live in Maumee?’” Campos said. “We just love it here.”
He and his wife, Jennifer, quickly decided to embrace their adopted hometown, emphasizing support for local businesses and individuals. They even made a point to have everything at their wedding – from the church and the reception venue to the flowers and the DJ – be from Maumee.
Campos has continued to find other ways to support the community he made his home several years ago.
“He’s always finding a way to get involved, to be a part of the community,” said Michelle Fairchild, another one of Campos’ nominators.
The two met and became friends because of his involvement in the Maumee Athletic Boosters years ago.
According to Fairchild, Campos has been known to give both his time and his money to the boosters, along with several other organizations, including groups important to his RE/MAX Preferred Associates office in Maumee.
“Within our office, we do a big fundraiser every year in May and our goal is to raise money for Children’s Miracle Network and the Susan G. Komen Foundation,” Campos said. “RE/MAX is a national partner with Children’s Miracle Network, so I’ve always been a part of the fundraiser and assembling it and making it run.”
He doesn’t just stop with the fundraiser, though. Campos gives a portion of every sale he makes to the Children’s Miracle Network. He also provides support for the Panther Pride Foundation in Maumee.
“The Panther Pride Foundation, which I really love being a part of, it’s helping the school fill those many, many gaps that state funding and federal funding don’t allow money for,” Campos said. “I like the ambition that the Panther Pride Foundation has to be able to serve.”
Campos has volunteered his time and money with the foundation, which has helped with the football stadium, STEM center and Performing Arts Center. Putting in his resources to assist Maumee, both in the schools and in the rest of the community, is important for many reasons, he said.
As a real estate agent, Campos helps people find their homes in Northwest Ohio, so he wants to make sure people know that the area he is moving them into is a good place for them, their families and their careers. He takes all the people he has helped relocate on a four-hour tour of Northwest Ohio and shows them the area he knows so much about.
His participation in several organizations, chambers of commerce – including the Maumee and Toledo chambers – and more are what has made him such an expert on the area.
“There are other things that I have been involved with, too,” Campos said. “The Maumee City Planning Commission, the Maumee Athletic Boosters. I’m on the board of directors for the Northwest Ohio Realtors, and in 2018, I received the Community Service Award from the Northwest Ohio Realtors.”
Campos was even on the committee for Hometown Heroes, which is why Fairchild had to wait until this year to nominate him as the Outstanding Citizen.
“I’ve been wanting to nominate him for years, but the problem is he’s on the committee every year,” Fairchild said. “He’s on every committee for everything.”
According to McDougle and Fairchild, Campos’ continued philanthropic efforts are what make him a worthy nominee, but his involvement in Maumee and the Northwest Ohio area is what makes him a good person.
“He’s always got a smile on his face and he’s always willing to help and jump in,” Fairchild said. “He’s always, always positive. I don’t think I’ve heard a negative thing come out of his mouth.”
