LAS VEGAS, November 12, 2007 – Realtors® are known for their commitment to building strong communities, and hundreds of them will contribute their time and efforts to the greater Las Vegas community while attending the 2007 REALTORS® Conference & Expo here this week.
Conference attendees will roll up their sleeves and lend a hand to Habitat for Humanity Las Vegas and the Children’s Service Guild, a Las Vegas-based nonprofit dedicated to helping children touched by the family court system. In addition, $10 of every conference participant’s registration fee is applied toward these programs.
“Realtors® are active in their communities and take pleasure in donating their time to personally assist those who are in need, helping to build healthier, stronger communities,” said National Association of Realtors® President Pat V. Combs, of Grand Rapids, Mich., and vice president of Coldwell Banker-AJS-Schmidt. “Our Realtor® members are excited to spend time in Las Vegas this week and help make life a little better for families touched by these two charitable organizations.”
More than 200 Realtor® volunteers will help Habitat for Humanity Las Vegas complete the construction of two new homes. The houses, located at 1933 and 1937 Gregory Street, were funded by NAR and the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors®. In June 2007 Realtor® leaders helped frame and raise the walls of the two homes, which have been under construction throughout the summer. Realtor® volunteers will help complete the finishing touches on the two homes by installing hardware and interior trim, painting, cleaning and landscaping. On Sunday, Nov. 11, NAR presented the keys to one of the homes to new homeowner Patty Parker of Las Vegas and her two daughters, Jasmyn, 14, and Kassidy, 12.
Volunteers will also help revitalize common areas at the Children’s Service Guild. The Guild’s mission is to help young victims of crime and youth offenders of the Clark County Family Court System by providing them with medical and dental care, clothes, toys, bedding and other essentials not covered by government funding. Realtor® volunteers will help the Guild by painting murals in the children’s music room and construct an outdoor sitting area for guests by painting a cabana and picnic tables and laying gravel and pavers. On Monday afternoon the Guild will host a picnic where Realtors® will be able to spend time with the children assisted by the Guild.
Realtor® Sharon Friend of Las Vegas Realty, Las Vegas has been president of the Children’s Service Guild for the past seven years. “It’s wonderful that my Realtor® family could donate their time to help renovate the Children’s Service Guild,” said Friend. “Thanks to the generosity of so many, the Guild will be better able to meet the needs of the many children we help each year.” Friend was named a 2006 REALTOR® Magazine Good Neighbor Awards winner for her outstanding commitment to the charity.
Realtor® volunteers will work at both sites on Sunday, Nov. 11, and Monday, Nov. 12, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. PST. The 2007 REALTORS® Conference & Expo, titled “No Limits,” will take place at the Venetian Resort Hotel & Casino, Nov. 13–16, in Las Vegas. The meeting will feature more than 200 conference sessions and 744 exhibitors. A record number of more than 30,000 Realtors® and guests from the United States and abroad are expected to attend.
The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing more than 1.3 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.
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Information about NAR is available at www.realtor.org. This and other news releases are posted in the Web site’s “News Media” section in the NAR Media Center
