On October 27th, the REFA Emerging Leaders participated in an "Up & Out" Move through the charitable organization Heading Home. The "Up & Out" Move is a smaller version of the popular TV show, "Extreme Home Makeover," where volunteers and donors provide a clean, fully furnished and fully stocked home for a family from the Heading Home program. The move was made possible through corporate and personal donations raised by REFA and its members, in addition to the dedicated volunteers who showed up on the day of to help with the move.
In just a few hours, 15 REFA volunteers cleaned the apartment, assembled the furniture, filled the kitchen, and transformed the empty apartment into a home for a family in need. A single mother and her 5 year old son were brought to their new home in the afternoon for the first time with a surprise cheer of "Welcome Home" from all of the volunteers. After a tour of their new home, the family raised a sparkling cider toast with all of the volunteers to wish the family good luck. This is the 3rd year the REFA Emerging Leaders have participated in this program.
REFA also celebrated its 24th Gala last month, honoring Joe Fallon, Founder and CEO of the Fallon Company, with the Robert S. Swain Jr. Distinguished Service Award. Close to 500 industry leaders gathered at the Sheraton Boston Hotel to celebrate Joe Fallon's contributions to the commercial real estate industry in Boston, most notably in the seaport district. David Reilly of Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, and John Fowler of HFF, both friends and business partners of Fallon's, spoke during the presentation and gave some personal perspective on the honoree before he gave his accepting remarks.
REFA continues its programming until the end of the year with a few events coming up this month and into December. On November 28th, REFA Education will host its 4th Quarter program on the topic of the development of the Fenway at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in Boston. On December 4th, REFA will hold a members-only luncheon on equity investing in 2013, and the REFA Emerging Leaders will host their annual Holiday Happy Hour and Toy Drive at Brandy Pete's in Boston, which is open all REFA members and non-members alike. On December 12th, REFA Education will host a fundamentals program on the topic of tax credits and how they can help finance real estate transactions.
For more information about any of REFA's upcoming events, please visit our website at www.refa.org.