As most of you know the IFMA Holiday Gala is great fun. IFMA also raises money to help support the SPARK Center throughout the year and at the gala. Wally from the Red Sox decided to share the fun with the kids from Spark this year. Wally hung out with the kids on January 11th. As you can see the kids loved him. It was great for me to be there! I was very humbled by the experience and discovered more about the Spark Center and its roots.

Past president Joe Flynn of Margulies Peruzzi Architects was instrumental from the beginning. He saw the need for babies who were born infected with the AIDS virus back in the 1980s. For those of you born after the AIDS crisis, this was huge. No one knew what to do, let alone touch these infected babies out of fear of contracting this once deadly disease. Due to medical research and places like the Boston Medical Center, which Spark is a part of, children are no longer born with the AIDS virus.

As less and less AIDS infected babies were being born, it became apparent that 24 hour care was still needed for children who literally had nowhere else to go. Some are born as a result of what is being called the new crisis, drug addiction. The point is there will always be a need for Spark! Some children are born with needs only a place like Spark can provide. They receive one on one care and thrive here. Some even spend there lives here until they become adults, this is home to them.

I heard about one particular child who grew up here and was released when he became an adult. He continued to visit on a daily basis, not knowing where else to go. This was home for him. Barbara Hughes, the director found him a job at the Spark Center. My heart is overwhelmed by the giving staff who are family to these children. This is an extremely difficult job. You have to love children and love what you do to work here. Their reward is seeing these children grow inside and out, mentally and physically to live another day. Sometimes even with a smile on their face, which can be the biggest gift. These children face many difficulties which we can never completely understand. IFMA wanted our sponsors and donors to see the faces of just some of these wonderful children, who with your help are thriving.

I want to thank IFMA for giving me the opportunity to meet these amazing children and staff. I will never be the same. It warms my heart so much to see the gift of a better quality of life these children receive because of people like you! Thank you, donors and sponsors for your support from the chapter, the kids and the committee.

Please visit the Spark Center website for more information. Volunteers are welcome, if you love children and want to donate your time you can also contact Barbara Hughes.

Annie McEvoy is an associate publisher at the New England Real Estate Journal, Norwell, Mass.