TREB hosted the first ever “Gathering for Giving” charity reception on Tuesday, July 29, 2008 in honour of shelter-related charities operating within the Greater Toronto Area. Toronto Real Estate Board President Maureen O’Neill and her Board of Directors welcomed Ontario REALTORS Care® Foundation Chair Laura Leyser and members of the Foundation Board of Governors, as well as special guest Chief Commissioner Barbara Hall of the Ontario Human Rights Commission. Mario Sergio, MPP for the riding of York West and the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and City of Toronto Councillor Maria Augimeri’s Executive Assistant, Marco Iacampo, joined the celebration.
The Toronto Real Estate Board is proud to announce that TREB President Maureen O’Neill presented a donation in the amount of $320,000 to Ontario REALTORS Care® Foundation Chair Laura Leyser. Chair Leyser invited Jamie Edwards, former President of OREA and Realtor Governor of the Ontario REALTORS Care® Foundation and Tom Bosley, former President of OREA and founding member of the Every REALTOR® Campaign of $1/member/month, to join her at the podium and accept the cheque on behalf of the Ontario REALTORS Care® Foundation.
TREB President Maureen O’Neill told the crowd, “Being more involved in our communities has quickly become a way of life for us here at the Toronto Real Estate Board…Tonight, we’re here to honour those of you who work tirelessly to maintain shelter-related programs throughout the Greater Toronto Area. We also look forward to learning how we can help.”
Chief Commissioner Barbara Hall spoke fervently of leadership and the need for commitment to the issues of homelessness if positive change is ever to occur. Commissioner Hall also spoke of the most recent report from the Ontario Human Rights Commission, “ Right at home: Report on the consultation on human rights and rental housing in Ontario.” Hall stressed that the report focused on “housing as a human right” and, after a yearlong study, is able to make effective recommendations for change via “a framework for collective action to identify, remove and prevent discrimination in rental housing.” To view the entire Right at Home report, please visit the Ontario Human Rights website at http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en.
“Gathering for Giving” was an opportunity for our TREB Board of Directors to introduce our commitment to charitable giving in conjunction with the Ontario REALTORS Care® Foundation, which “ enables us to give back to a remarkable network of people and organizations who work to provide shelter for those men, women and children in crisis” within our communities. Representatives of more than 19 charitable organizations within the GTA were invited to attend and submit grant applications to the Ontario REALTORS Care® Foundation.
Pictured (top): Ontario REALTORS Care® Foundation Chair Laura Leyser, REALTOR® Governor Jamie Edwards, and OREA Past President Tom Bosley accept donation cheque from TREB President Maureen O’Neill.
Pictured (bottom): Chief Commissioner Barbara Hall, Ontario Human Rights Commission.
