Red Oak Realty Opportunity Foundation Gives Away Over $100,000

In 2006 I had the pleasure of sitting on the board of the Red Oak Realty Opportunity Foundation also known as ROOF. We just had our annual meeting to identify the charitable organizations that would receive funding and I must say that it was a pleasure to help decide where our donations were allocated.

My experience with ROOF can be summarized by a story that occurred 2 years ago. Our office had a charity called Youth Bike Adventures (Trips for Kids) come and speak at a company meeting. One of the programs leaders who had just returned from an excursion in Berkeley’s Tilden Park spoke about how much they enjoyed their trip. It was a touching story of children who had enjoyed their first trip to the East Bay Regional Park System. Yet, nothing would prepare me for how the story ended. At the end of the trip one of the children had said, “I never knew that the parks in the hills were open to us.” His statement was more profound then even he knew. It instantly struck me how could any East Bay resident not know that the East Bay Regional Park system was public and open to all? It was at this point that I realized how much of a difference ROOF makes in the community and that I wanted to get more involved in the ROOF organization. ROOF is one of the sole funders of Youth Bike Adventures.

This year we broke the roof raising over $100,000. on January 18th, we held our annual ROOF Awards Evening , where we celebrated all of the donations made by Red Oak Realty’s Realtors, business associates, and clients. The evening could not have been more perfect, filled with music by the Cantare Con Vivo Children’s Choirs of Oakland, who is one of ROOF’s recipients. Berkeley’s Mayor Tom Bates attended the event and praised the work of ROOF.

It was a banner year for ROOF. Not only did we break all of our past donation records, but we also received the Berkeley Association of Realtors “BAR Cares Award”, given “in appreciation for members who make a difference in our communities.” It is nice to know that we can all make a difference in the communities we live in and serve. A big thank you goes out to all for making this a banner year for the Red Oak Realty Opportunity Foundation.