Holiday Schmooze for Legacy continues to grow
Agent Philip Alter, Martha Turner Sotheby’s International Realty, and his assistant, Jon Aills report that this year’s Holiday Schmooze may have been the most successful yet. The pair served on the event host committee.
“The Schmooze is always a great party for a really great cause. Legacy is an amazing organization. Last year the event raised more than $150,000 for Legacy,” Alter said. Started in 1997, the Holiday Schmooze is a two-hour cocktail party held in a private Houston residence to raise money for HIV/AIDS programs and services.
It’s always held in a home with interesting architectural and interior design and features a relaxed atmosphere, creative fare, great service and perhaps key to the “on-growing” success — a very brief program.
••• Bernstein Realty’s Neil Silverman, an active member of Bellaire Southwest Houston Rotary Club, helped create a special surprise for 12 children from Sylvan Rodriguez Elementary School. Students selected to “Shop with a Cop” have gone above and beyond in the classroom with kindness to fellow classmates and teachers.
Silverman’s team paired each child up with a Bellaire police officer and a budget of $50 to let them shop for their family at a Meyerland Target store. Only after they selected the gifts and brought them back to Rotary volunteers to wrap did they learn they would have an additional $50 to shop for themselves.
“The children are so surprised and so thrilled to have the opportunity. It truly is rewarding to be part of the Bellaire SW Houston Rotary giving service above self,” said Silverman. The Rotary supports many programs including awarding scholarships to college-bound students, blood drives, The Boys and Girls Club of Houston and international humanitarian projects. ••• A spirited group of
mothers led by John Daugherty, Realtors’ Belinda Schmidt haven’t lost their sense of Strake Jesuit school spirit — even if their children have graduated and gone on to college. The “Alumni Group of 2015” came together when their children where still in high school, but saw no reason to stop the fun they were having with happy hours and being festive. The group got together earlier this month to give back to other children as they rolled up their sleeves and made sandwiches at Kids Meals, a Houston-based home nutrition program serving the communities hungriest pre-schoolers.
••• Rita Santamaria, founder and CEO of Champions School of Real Estate, does a $2,000 cash drawing for her teachers in each region of Texas every holiday party. This year, Paul St. Amand, director of Mortgage School, and Stephanie Chambers, career counselor, each walked away from the Houston area dinner party at Brennan’s Restaurant with $1,000 in fresh bills.
••• ’Tis the season for Santa sightings. The jolly old elf made a special appearance offering free photos to neighbors, clients and agent families at the Better Homes and Gardens RE Gary Greene Champions Office thanks to Gibraltar Mortgage.
••• Offices everywhere are celebrating the “gift” this week of a solid November sales reported by the Houston Association of Realtors — the highest November median and average prices on record and a 33 percent jump previous lagging luxury sales. Here’s hoping for a continuing merry and bright 2017.
Real People will be back the first Sunday in January. Please send your news of the good things good people in the local real estate community are doing to realnewshouston@gmail.com.
Judi Griggs is a writer who lives in Houston in the winter and Buffalo in the summer — because the reverse would be ridiculous. Contact her at realnewshouston@gmail.com or through judigriggs.com.