Daily Real Estate News  |  September 8, 2005  |   Associations' Support for Relief Efforts Is Labor of Love With a deep sense of empathy for those who have lost their homes and livelihood, state and local REALTORŪ associations are mobilizing to help their REALTORŪ brothers and sisters in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. For Jim Peters, CEO of the South Carolina Association of REALTORSŪ, watching the events unfold after Hurricane Katrina struck the U.S. Gulf Coast on Aug. 29 was like déjā vu. “It brings back vivid memories of the devastation of Hurricane Andrew,” says Peters, who was the CEO of the REALTORŪ Association of Greater Fort Lauderdale when Hurricane Andrew struck Florida in 1992. “I’ve seen the trauma and the tragedy of families who have been devastated … and I still can’t forget that.” Peters, who helped the Florida Association of REALTORSŪ coordinate relief efforts after Hurricane Andrew, is now using those same skills to encourage support for Hurricane Katrina victims. SCAR has donated a total of $32,200 to the state REALTORŪ associations in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, whose coastal cities were devastated by the hurricane. Peters estimates that SCAR members also donated $16,520 directly to the REALTORSŪ Relief Foundation, which is administered by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORSŪ. As of this morning, the REALTORSŪ Relief Foundation has collected $2,387,861 million from almost 6,273 donors, including $1.15 million contributed by NAR. Taking Care of Basic Needs Back in South Carolina, Peters will continue to push for more contributions in the coming weeks. Based on his experiences with helping victims of Hurricane Andrew, Peters estimates that families displaced from their homes by Hurricane Katrina will need $2,000 each to help them pay for temporary accommodations, essential clothing and toiletries, and meals for just 30 days. Peters says if all REALTORSŪ in the state donated just $20, his state association’s 15,000 members would be able to donate a total of $300,000. “This is a work of love,” Peters says. “It has to be a work of love. It shows that REALTORSŪ care.” Perhaps no one exemplifies that caring nature better than R. Scott Brunner, CEO of the Virginia Association of REALTORSŪ, who has been in the thick of helping to communicate news and information from his old colleagues in Mississippi in the past week. Brunner was chief executive of the Mississippi Association of REALTORSŪ until the end of July and has deep ties in the state. Brunner says the VAR Policy Board “unanimously supported a significant effort on behalf of our REALTORŪ brothers and sisters,” pledging $250,000 to help hurricane victims. “We wanted to do some tangible, humanitarian effort,” Brunner says. Marc Lebowitz, VAR’s vice president of administration, led the association staff to roll up their sleeves to do just that. Staff members last weekend spent almost $30,000 at Costco to buy 6 tons of much needed supplies—such as bottled water, toothbrushes, diapers, and nonperishable foods—and then loaded the pallets of supplies onto a 26-foot rented truck. The truck was sent down to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency facility in Jackson, Miss. The remaining $220,000 will be donated to the three state REALTORŪ association disaster relief funds, Brunner says. “We knew that we had to do something and do something quickly to help our REALTORŪ friends and their neighbors,” says John Veneris, president of the Illinois Association of REALTORSŪ, which has donated $100,000 to the REALTORSŪ Relief Foundation. Veneris, who is broker-owner Realty Executives Pro-Team in Downers Grove, Ill., also has pledged to match the donations made by the 26 sales associates in his office. So far, the associates have donated $1,000, he says. Long-term Effort Needed “I just hope three months from now, that people don’t forget about the victims,” Veneris says. This is something that will take years to fix. This is something we need to keep in the eye of the public for a long, long time.” Veneris says he believes the rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Katrina will be even more challenging than after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. But “despite the negative things we hear about how long the government took to get involved, the American people certainly got involved and that gives you a good feeling.” How You Can Help To make a tax-deductible contribution to the REALTORSŪ Relief Foundation:

Make a credit-card donation online by visiting the REALTORSŪ Relief Foundation Web Site.

Send a check, payable to the REALTORSŪ Relief Foundation, to REALTORSŪ Relief Foundation, Attn: NAR Finance Division, 430 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago IL 60611. For more of NAR's coverage of the hurricane and to learn how REALTORSŪ can help, visit the Hurricane Katrina Relief page at REALTOR.org. NAR also has set up a Hurricane Katrina Discussion Board at REALTOR.org for you to share ideas on how to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. —By Haley M. Hwang for REALTORŪ Magazine Online