Association tees off for good causes - GLVAR raises $75,000 for three Las Vegas Valley children's charities

 

Source - Las Vegas Review Journal: Real Estate News

Oct. 01, 2006

Special to Real Estate

The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors (GLVAR) raised $75,000 during its 19th annual GLVAR Golf Tournament at the Bali Hai Golf Club on the Las Vegas Strip.

The proceeds will be divided equally among the Court-Appointed Special Advocates program (CASA), Classroom on Wheels and Variety the Children's Charity, three local organizations dedicated to serving the children of Southern Nevada.

GLVAR President Linda Rheinberger said this year's charity golf tournament drew a record crowd and raised a record amount for local charities.

"We surpassed our goal and raised more than the $66,000 we raised last year," Rheinberger said. "Besides being a lot of fun, this tournament gives us another way to improve the quality of life in Southern Nevada and to improve the lives of local children. We want to thank our sponsors, our members and the GLVAR staff for all their support. We also want to acknowledge the great work these not-for-profit organizations do every day."

More than 200 local Realtors, supporters and business professionals participated in the sold-out event.

Sponsors included the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Republic Mortgage, Rhodes Homes, Cosmopolitan Resort Casino, Keller Williams Realty The Market Place, Ticor Title of Nevada, Panorama Towers and Fletcher Jones Imports of Las Vegas.

CASA provides trained volunteer advocates to preserve and protect the rights and interests of children involved in the family court system.

Classroom on Wheels, known for its cow-themed buses, addresses the developmental needs of at-risk pre-school children and provides mobile, bilingual preschool instruction, free of charge.

Variety the Children's Charity provides a wide range of services to low-income and special-needs children and their families. Founded in 1950, the local chapter developed the Variety School for Special Education in 1952 and the Variety Early Learning Center in 1956.

Variety currently serves more than 25,000 local children through its own programs along with other non-profit organizations such as Opportunity Village in Las Vegas.

An example of the GLVAR's ongoing support is evident in the Variety Early Learning Center, a local day care center for children from low-income families, said Jason Smith, who directs Variety the Children's Charity. The center cares for more than 230 children, ranging from the ages of 6 months to 5 years, helping parents who otherwise would not be able to seek or maintain employment.

The newly rebuilt playground at the 990 D St. facility of the Variety Early Learning Center was recently named after GLVAR Executive Vice President Irene Vogel, who has been supporting the organization for more than 25 years.

"We really thank the GLVAR for selecting us as their charity and for doing nice things for our kids," said Ruby Collins, executive director of the learning center.

To learn more about Variety the Children's Charity visit www.varietychildrenscharity.org or call 383-8466.

To receive additional information about CASA, or to volunteer or donate call 454-3565, or visit www.casafirst.org.

For more information on Classroom on Wheels call 870-7201 or visit www.classroomwheels.org.

For more information about GLVAR, visit ww.lasvegasrealtor.com.

 

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