Home sales and home building dropped slightly off their record pace in 2000. But there was no slowdown in the charitable activity of those in the real estate business.
– Early in the year, three Chicago real estate industry leaders teamed up to find and develop a permanent home for the Chicago Youth Programs Inc., which serves at-risk children in the Cabrini-Green, Washington Park and Uptown communities.
Magellan Development Group, Loewenberg + Associates Architects and James McHugh Construction Co., which have collaborated on some of the city’s most elegant condominium developments, provided their services at no cost.
“CYP has achieved terrific results and has been a model of efficiency in leveraging mostly volunteers in donated space to run effective programs,” said Joel Carlins, chairman of Magellan. “Their goal is nothing short of developing healthy and capable young people and empowering them to function better in today’s society.”
The group has located four city-owned lots in the Washington Park neighborhood and is working to close a deal for the land. Loewenberg + Associates is designing the facility, and Magellan and McHugh have successfully sought the support of their subcontractors, who are making contributions of materials, labor and management.
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– Re/Max of Northern Illinois continued its unusual fundraising activities in 2000, repeating its celebrity long-drive golf challenge and adding a Rolling for Children bocce ball tournament in Lincoln Park.
The participation of Chicago sports and real estate media in the golf challenge helped create a $3,000 windfall for Re/Max’s CARES Foundation and the Children’s Miracle Network. The network, which gives all the funds it raises in the Chicago area to Children’s Memorial Hospital, was the beneficiary of the bocce ball receipts.
– Kimball Hill Homes, a home-building firm based in northwest suburban Rolling Meadows, was one of many local companies participating in this year’s Toys for Tots campaign. In addition to a special holiday festival held in conjunction with Balloons Unlimited at its Fisher Farms development in Geneva, Kimball Hill representatives collected the toys at the builder’s six new-home community sales centers throughout the area.
– Commercial real estate firms also get into the charity act. Mid-America Real Estate Group this year was one of many area companies whose employees helped build Habitat for Humanity homes across the region. Mid-America, which specializes in retail leasing and investment, sent 14 volunteers into Lawndale on the West Side to work on everything from hanging doors to putting in landscaping
You don’t need a big campaign with a fancy name to prove you are every bit as philanthropic as the real estate community. But if you need one, we’ve got it.
The baiduhai Holiday Fund is a fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation. It makes grants to programs that aid children, those with development disabilities, the homeless and the hungry.
All fund-raising and administrative costs are shared by the baiduhai Co. and the McCormick Tribune Foundation, meaning 100 percent of your donations got directly to charitable organizations. The foundation this year will also match 50 cents for every dollar donated.
You can use the coupon below. And have a happy holiday season.