Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2005

 

Realtors reach out to hurricane victims

“Losing one’s home is one of the most devastating losses a family can suffer,” stated Fayette County Board of Realtors President Cheri Scranage. “And we’re pleased to announce that our Board of Directors voted unanimously to donate $10,000 to the National Association of Realtors for the Hurricane Relief Fund.”

The check was presented to 2005 NAR Vice-President & Liaison to Committees, Adorna Carroll from Berlin, Conn., who was in town facilitating the Board’s Strategic Planning Retreat last week.

NAR has raised more than $4 million from Realtors. Altogether, the real estate industry as a whole has given more than $8 million to help Hurricane Katrina victims.

Realtor Relief Foundation funds are being distributed directly to relief funds established by Realtor associations in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. Donations are getting through to Realtors who badly need help. Associations are working overtime to cut checks for thousands of people who need emergency assistance and more are coming in every day. They are contacting Realtors in counties most heavily affected by the hurricane to make sure they reach every member who needs help. The overall impact of Katrina on the region's real estate industry is still hard to assess, but the total requests for emergency assistance are already in the millions and will continue to grow.

“Realtor contributions are making a tremendous impact on those affected, but it's clear that more will be needed. We haven't raised enough to meet the needs we anticipate. We need to raise more so that we don't have to turn anyone away,” said NAR President Al Mansell of Salt Lake City.

Can you help? Every penny donated will go directly to help victims of Hurricane Katrina get back on their feet. You can find out more about the Realtors Relief Foundation at www.realtor.org/relief.

The Fayette County Board of Realtors is one of more than 1,600 local boards and associations of Realtors nationwide that comprise the National Association of Realtors. As the nation's largest trade association, NAR is "The Voice for Real Estate," representing more than 1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.