Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors® Charitable Foundation Donates $1,000 Toward Rebuilding Playground at Stadium Place

Baltimore, MD, September 14, 2008 --(PR.com)-- The Greater Baltimore Board of REALTORS® Charitable Foundation is making an emergency donation of $1,000 toward the rebuilding of Baltimore’s Playground at Stadium Place, which was ravaged by a fire on September 9. The GBBR Charitable Foundation is issuing a challenge to other area organizations to show their support for the rebuilding effort and bring smiles back to Stadium Place.

GBBR Charitable Foundation Trustee and Past-Chairman Jim Matthews and GBBR President-Elect Vito Simone will present the check at a WLIF-FM fundraising event to be held at the playground on Sunday, September 14.

“This playground is especially near and dear to us,” said Mr. Matthews, who represented the GBBR Charitable Foundation on the playground’s building committee. “We put our blood, sweat, and now our tears, into creating a space where families and neighbors could come together as a community. Now once again, we will roll up our sleeves and do everything we can to rebuild it.”

The GBBR Charitable Foundation was instrumental in the planning and building of the one-acre playground, located on the site of the old Memorial Stadium. Members pledged major financial support, secured donations of materials and supplies, and contributed more than 3,500 hours of service to help with its planning, construction, and maintenance. The playground provides a safe place to play for more than 3,000 children in the Waverly, Better Waverly, Ednor-Gardens-Lakeside, and Coldstream/Homestead/Montebello neighborhoods.

“Ask any Realtor who volunteered on a building crew,” said Mr. Simone. “We can show you every nut and bolt we screwed in, every patch of mulch we laid, every block of cement we poured. It was worth it just to see the joy on the faces of children, who came from all over the city to enjoy this wonderful place.”

About the Greater Baltimore Board of REALTORS® Charitable Foundation
The Greater Baltimore Board of REALTORS® Charitable Foundation Inc. (The GBBR Charitable Foundation), a 501(c) 3 organization, supports and engages in charitable, civic and humanitarian activities that improve the quality of life in neighborhoods within the Baltimore metropolitan area.

Since 1998, the GBBR Charitable Foundation has provided financial support, in-kind donations of services, expertise and time to organizations and projects that are working to improve Baltimore-area neighborhoods. In recognition of its efforts, the GBBR Charitable Foundation has been honored with the Mayor's Business Recognition Award and a Baltimore County Good Neighbor Week Volunteer Service Award for its civic leadership and outstanding community service.

About the Greater Baltimore Board of REALTORS
Founded in 1858 as the Baltimore Board of Real Estate Brokers and Property Agents, the Greater Baltimore Board of REALTORS® (GBBR) is the nation's oldest real estate board. A founding member of the National Association of REALTORS® and the Maryland Association of REALTORS®, GBBR has strived to promote the highest ethical standards and professional practices in the real estate industry for 150 years.

GBBR serves 4,800 members in the Greater Baltimore area. GBBR provides training, public and professional education classes and workshops, arbitration and mediation services, and works in the legislative and regulatory arenas to assure that laws and policies benefit its members and preserve property owners' rights. For more information, visit www.GBBR.org.

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