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REALTOR®: REALTORS® Present $4,000 in Grants at Palo Alto meeting

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

The Silicon Valley REALTORS® Charitable Foundation, the charitable arm of the Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® (SILVAR), presented a total of $4,000 in grants towards educating children at a recent Palo Alto District Realtor tour meeting. The Charitable Foundation gave $2,000 to St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic School, and $2,000 to JustREAD.

The Silicon Valley REALTORS® Charitable Foundation is a trust which makes grants available to organizations from donations by its Realtors and affiliate members and friends.

"We are committed to the welfare and prosperity of the communities where we live and work," said Cammie Brodie, president of the foundation. "Through our contributions and member involvement, we strive to help create more productive and enriched communities."

Brodie presented the $2,000 grant to Patricia McGraw, development director, and Sue Riggs, associate development director of St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic School.

St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic School is dedicated to providing multicultural children from East Palo Alto and the neighboring low income communities with a choice to select a quality Catholic elementary education that will prepare them for success in high school, college and beyond. Children of all denominations are welcome.

Brodie said the Charitable Foundation's donation will help the school run a summer school program in July for approximately 150 children in kindergarten through fifth grade, 85 percent of whom are Hispanic and from immigrant families. The grant will help them continue to improve their English language skills and other studies. The summer school will also provide the children a place to play when they can't play outdoors in their home neighborhoods due to high crime, thus enabling their parents to work to pay the bills.

McGraw thanked SILVAR members for the donation and indicated the grant will bring vitality to the summer school program and provide children with a safe environment in which to learn and play in the summer.

Brodie presented the JustREAD grant to Molly McCrory, the program's co-founder and board president. McCrory said JustREAD's mission is to teach basic reading and writing building blocks, one-on-one, to ninth through 12th graders who, through a variety of reasons, did not learn these basics in earlier grades. She explained JustREAD's tutoring program offers a unique phonics-based curriculum that provides a customized tutoring plan for each student, regardless of current grade level. The Charitable Foundation's grant will support JustREAD's program expenses, including the center manager's salary and curriculum materials.

McCrory thanked SILVAR Realtors and affiliates for the grant and noted SILVAR's continued support for JustREAD has enabled the organization to extend its program children in the upper grades.

These donations by the Charitable Foundation Trust were made possible, in part, from a sponsorship by Red Hawk Real Estate.


The Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® (SILVAR) is a professional trade organization representing over 4,000 REALTORS® and Affiliate members engaged in the real estate business on the Peninsula and in the South Bay. SILVAR promotes the highest ethical standards of real estate practice, serves as an advocate for homeownership and homeowners, and represents the interests of property owners in Silicon Valley.

The term "REALTOR®" is a registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS® and who subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.

Variations of this article have appeared in local area newspapers.

For further information, please contact Rose Meily at SILVAR Public Affairs, email , or phone (408) 200-0109.

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