Massachusetts Association of REALTORS Charitable Foundation Makes $3,000 Donation to ‘Homes for our Troops’
Donation was presented at the ‘Build Brigade’ for Sergeant Michael Downing in Middleboro
WALTHAM, MA – December 15, 2009 – (RealEstateRama) — The Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® Charitable Foundation made a $3,000 donation to Homes for Our Troops, a national non-profit organization that provides homes at no cost to severely injured Servicemen and Servicewomen and their immediate families. The donation was presented to Homes for Our Troops at the “Build Brigade” for the construction of the home for Army Sergeant Michael Downing on Friday, December 11, 2009 in Middleboro. Downing was on his second deployment when he was left a double amputee after an IED explosion in Afghanistan in September 2008.
“As a veteran and a Realtor, I can think of no greater cause for the MAR Charitable Foundation to contribute to,” said Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® President Gary Rogers, a broker at RE/MAX First Realty in Waltham. “Realtors have a tradition of giving back to the communities they live and work in and making a donation to Homes for our Troops exemplifies that commitment.”
The home being built for Army Sergeant Downing is one of three currently under construction in Massachusetts for veterans who were severely injured while being deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The homes are provided at no cost to the veterans and their immediate families and when completed provide maximum freedom of movement and the ability to live more independently. Homes for Our Troops has over 65 homes either in process or completed across the country. There are currently two competed homes in Massachusetts.
“When the MAR Charitable Foundation was approached about making a donation to Homes for our Troops by a Realtor member, the trustees decision was unanimous and almost instantaneous,” said MAR Charitable Foundation Chair Monica Dupre, a broker with Jack Conway & Company in Taunton. “We felt strong enough about the cause that we voted to consider an annual donation for at least the next two years.”
About Homes for our Troops:
Homes for Our Troops (HFOT), is a national non-profit, non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2004 and based in Taunton, Mass. HFOT is strongly committed to helping those who have selflessly given to the country and have returned home with serious disabilities and injuries since September 11, 2001. It is HFOT’s duty and honor to assist severely injured Servicemen and Servicewomen and their immediate families by raising donations of money, building materials and professional labor and to coordinate the process of building a home that provides maximum freedom of movement and the ability to live more independently. For more information: www.homesforourtroops.org.
About the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® Charitable Foundation:
The Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® Charitable Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) organization that performs a variety of community outreach initiatives that provide assistance to needy individuals and the community at-large. Since its inception in 1992, the Foundation has implemented several grant programs aimed at furthering the REALTOR® tradition of giving back to the local community. Specifically, under the direction of its nine-member Board of Trustees, the Foundation provides disaster assistance relief grants to victims of natural disasters, and offers financial assistance to Massachusetts-based non-profit organizations that provide affordable housing, home buyer counseling, shelter and emergency care services to persons transitioning from temporary to permanent housing. Collectively, the Foundation has awarded more than $250,000 grants during its brief history. www.marealtor.com/content/charitable_foundation.htm
Organized in 1924, the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® is a professional trade organization with more than 20,000 members. The term REALTOR® is registered as the exclusive designation of members of the National Association of REALTORS® who subscribe to a strict code of ethics and enjoy continuing education programs.
