Area Associations - Giving back in 2007

Area associations have consistently been strong supporters of their communities and are committed to making a difference in the lives of Central Ohioans. Here's a brief synopsis of how a few of the area association gave back this year.

Bexley- Eastmoor-Berwick Realty Association (BEB) has its big annual fundraiser coming up this month. By running a reverse raffle and an auction, we raise money for the Homeless Family Foundation and Broadleigh School, which is a neighborhood grade school. We also started a trash clean-up project this year, which will become an annual service project.

Columbus Commercial Industrial participated in two community service events _ a golf outing and REALTOR® Care Day. The golf outing was held August 3, and we raised $2,750 to support the operations of Junior Achievement. Many CCIIR members also volunteered and participated individually in Junior Achievement functions. For REALTORS® Care Day, a contingent of 20 members worked at the Heinzerling Foundation. The 2008 Golf Outing will also benefit Junior Achievement and will be held July 24, 2008.

Columbus Real Estate Exchangors' (CREE) President Ted Oatts brought strong leadership, structure and new ideas to this established organization instituting monthly business meetings with minutes, a Treasurer's report, committee reports, and big breakfasts on the first Thursday of each month. Also new in 2007, is "trade anything in on a real estate deal" on the fourth Thursdays of the month; and an Affiliate Day on each fifth Thursday morning. Commercial deals for less than $50,000 to over $25,000,000 were worked on; with educational tips known as "Furman's (Tinon) Sermons" benefiting all who attended. Donations were given to CORPAC and to the Foundation Fund. Finally, we produced a quality pictorial directory, led by Bob Deis.

Delaware, Knox, Licking and Morrow SuburbanCounty Realty Association (DKLM) again participated in this year's "REALTORS® Care Day". Our hard working group took care of three families on that day. In our hearts we took home more then we brought. Every year we give scholarships to the schools in the areas we represent. This year, we were able to give $600.00 each to Big Walnut School in Sunbury, Delaware County, Centerburg School in Centerburg, Knox County and Highland School in Sparta, Morrow County. We also donated two items to CORPAC ? a big yellow Yard Wagon filled with gardening items and flowers and a Park Bench loaded with all kinds of picnic and patio items. We understand the bidding was very successful on both items. A donation of an American Flag, pole and stand was presented to the community and placed in PJ's Restaurant. Local dignitaries were present when the flag was marched in by our own military veterans and placed for all the community to use at their meetings. Dollars were also donated for the CBR "Affiliate Appreciation" function.

Gahanna Area Realty Association will be donating all of the funds from our annual golf outing and Christmas breakfast to the Gahanna Needy Family Fund. We anticipate a total of funds in 2007 to GRIN to be in excess of $18,000.00. We also contributed over $1,000 to the WE CARE project this past summer.

Hilliard Area Realty Association celebrated our 20th year as an Association in October with a wonderful party attended by several of our past Presidents and members. Our fundraisers included a volleyball tournament held in August, pies & cookie dough for the upcoming holidays sale and, on December 10, we will host a Spaghetti Dinner at Hilliard Memorial Middle School. Contributions were made to the CORPAC Auction, the CBR Foundation Fund and to the CBR Affiliate Appreciation Luncheon. This year, we also initiated Thursday evening open houses and plan to continue this next Spring.

Independent Brokers Association's (IBA) President Ted Oatts implemented many fresh new benefits for members at the IBA monthly lunch meetings in 2007, including "Legal Moments" led by attorneys Jack D'Aurora and Jonathan Holfinger; "Best Practices" discussing tips on helpful real estate ideas; "Quick Pitches" promoting IBA member properties; and a website presence thanks to the Columbus Dispatch. Various speakers presented timely information including, Marianne Collins on foreclosure and banking legislation, President Elect Greg Hrabcak on business and commercial brokerage, Verizon on the latest PDA's, the Columbus Dispatch with advertising tips, and Chris Reese with listing tips. Donations were given to CORPAC and the Foundation Fund.

Madison County Area Realty Association (MCARA) has had a very successful and productive 2007. Our meetings are held the first Thursday of each month at the London Country Club, registration at 8:30 and breakfast at 9:00. Throughout the course of the year, we brought in numerous speakers to discuss a variety of topics and we even provided our group a couple of hours of free CE. New this year was our participation in REALTORS® Care Day. We chose the Madison County Humane Society where we were able to help with some much needed repairs and fixing up, which included, seating, landscaping, a new shed for storage, storage bins and lighting. We ended the year with a vote todonate our remaining treasury to four needy local charities.

Midtown Area Real Estate Association ended the year with nearly 200 members! In June, we participated for the second year in the REALTOR® Care Day event, working on 2 projects in the Franklinton neighborhood. Our history of philanthropy continued, donating over $6,000 to various organizations, including Friends of Goodale Park, Project Open Hand, CORPAC, Celebrity Waiters Luncheon, MDA, Brain Cancer Research, Crime Stoppers, Columbus Landmarks Foundation, and others.

New Albany Realty Association (NARA) annual charity golf outing was a big success. Participants enjoyed a great day and the event raised approximately $20,000 in support of Children's Hospital, Habitat for Humanity, Crittenton Community School and scholarships for New Albany High School college bound seniors. Member service enhancements included guest speakers, quarterly statistical updates, core continuing education courses and a new web site. We will cap off the year with a Holiday Breakfast on December 12 at the New Albany Country Club.

Northeast/Westerville Area Realty Association (N.E.W.R.A) began the year with the Past Presidents Brunch with over 20 Past N.E.W.R.A. Presidents in attendance. We organized a wildly successful Spaghetti Dinner for the "Jane Markley Fund" in April. Jane is a Westerville REALTOR® who needed a Kidney Transplant. We raised $9,500 for Jane's medical bills and medication. I am happy to report Jane's transplant was a success! Later that month we raised $2,000 with our Annual Bake Sale for K-9 Companions. The Golf Outing was held at Royal American Gold Links on June 4th. We donated $1,000 for "REALTORS ® Care Day" and teamed up with the Gahanna Area Realty Association. There was still more to do at the end of the day so we scheduled a second day the following week to complete the outstanding items for a job well done! During the Westerville Parade on July 4th, we sold Hot Dogs and Bottled Water to the community, where we raised $850 for Westerville Caring and Sharing, including the boxes of back to school supplies that were contributed. We hope to make "A Dog and a Water for a Buck" an annual event. Other Charities we donated to this year include: $500 Westerville Chamber of Commerce; $500 CORPAC; $250 March of Dimes, $250 W.A.R.M., $250 CBR Celebrities Waiters Luncheon, $100 CBR Affiliates Appreciation Luncheon and $100 American Cancer Society. N.E.W.R.A. proudly raised $15,300 thus far PLUS we have an additional $2,000 -$2,500 yet to disburse at the end of the year ? for a grand total of almost $18,000!