Members of the Toronto Real Estate Board have spent thousands of hours of volunteer time and donated thousands of dollars to local charities this year.
TREB donated $150,000 to Habitat for Humanity GTA to sponsor a home for the Kabir-Akter family at Habitat’s 140 Pinery Tr. site. Over the past year, TREB members have participated in several build days at this site, investing major sweat equity into helping build the dreams of home ownership.
TREB’s past president Larry Cerqua, chose Gilda’s Club Greater Toronto as the charity organization to benefit from TREB Fest, an annual member fundraising event. Gilda’s Club offers emotional, social and practical support to cancer patients and their families and friends. The event raised $10,000.
On May 17, TREB recognized National Real Estate Day, a day for all Canadians to celebrate achieving the Canadian dream of home ownership. The day started with an appearance on CityTV’s Breakfast Television where TREB announced its grand prize contest, a $3,000 Rona Home & Garden gift card. Frank Darling from Lindsay, Ont. won the prize.
Now in its 11th year, TREB’s Past President’s Scholarship Program annually awards scholarships on behalf of Realtors to graduating high school seniors pursuing post-secondary education. Two $5,000 first-place scholarships and two $2,500 second-place scholarships are available.
Applications were distributed to nearly 300 public and Catholic secondary schools in the GTA and posted on TREB’s social media and scholarshipscanada.com. A record of academic achievement and a range of leadership qualities and community involvement are required for application; however, judging is based on an essay.
This year’s first-place winners are Janae Knott and Xia (Sophia) Ge. The second-place winners are Brittany Chang-Kit and Mica Ong.
Finally, each year at TREB’s Spring Annual Meeting, members vote to participate in the Ontario Realtors Care Foundation’s Every Realtor Campaign by donating $1 per member per month. The money is distributed to shelter-related charities across the Greater Toronto Area. In 2016, $547,065 was dispersed among 65 GTA charities. Of the money raised, $150,000 was earmarked for Habitat for Humanity Greater Toronto Area.
