On Friday, September 22, the Norris Group proudly presented its 10th annual award-winning black tie event I Survived Real Estate. An incredible lineup of industry experts will join Bruce Norris to discuss perplexing industry trends, head-scratching legislation, and opportunities emerging for real estate professionals. All proceeds from the event benefit Make a Wish and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. This event would not be possible without the generous help of the following platinum partners: HousingWire, Coach Fullerton, Coldwell Banker Town and Country, PropertyRadar, the Apartment Owners Association, the San Diego Creative Real Estate Investors Association, InvestClub, Las Brisas Escrow, MVT Productions, Inland Empire Real Estate Investment Club, Realty411, and White House Catering. Visit www.isurvivedrealestate.com for event information and tickets.
Episode Highlights
- What is the purpose of I Survived Real Estate?
- How many years has The Norris Group held this event?
- How much have they raised from their many years hosting the event?
- Who is benefitted from this event?
- How did one of the benefitted organizations come to be?
- What was the wish that Make a Wish granted for the child featured at this year’s event?
- How many wishes did they grant in the past year, and what is their goal for the future?
Episode Notes
This week is Part 1 of our weekly rebroadcast of I Survived Real Estate 2017. Aaron Norris opened by thanking everyone from the Norris Group for helping with the event: Robyn, Vickie, Craig, Holly, Donna, Joey, Don, Mike, and Rich. This was the tenth year for I Survived Real Estate, and Aaron had been reminiscing by looking at pictures going back to 2008 when they did not hire a professional photographer. They launched the event during the real estate recession with three goals in mind: invite friends throughout the real estate industry to celebrate the work they do, even during rough times, invite thought leaders from the industry to share their insights on what lies ahead, and to raise money for charity.
Cancer was the focus for the last ten years, and this night was no different. Aaron asked everyone to stand who knew somebody who had dealt with cancer. This is why The Norris Group has their event. Over the previous four months, I Survived Real Estate raised over $80,000. That brings the ten-year total to $780,000. Those who paid for a seat to be there as well as those on the livestream could still give by going to the link in the program at www.isurvivedrealestate.com. Under the video tab, you can find the direct link to Make a Wish where you can make a tax deductible donation. 1000% of every sponsorship goes to Make a Wish and St. Jude.
Aaron thanked those with InvestClub and LA South REIA who went the extra mile and were the top two fundraisers. I Survived Real Estate benefits two organizations who help children with life-threatening illnesses. The first person to speak was Odette Gutierrez of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. But first, a video was presented about the organization. In it, they went through the history of how St. Jude came to be. Danny Thomas had the drive and vowed to build a new hospital. $32,000 was subscribed quickly, the first of the $1 million he needed. People were originally skeptical and said it couldn’t be done. They said it was a task that would break his heart and was impossible. Little did they know he would begin construction in Memphis, Tennessee on a hospital in the form of a star. It was designed to help children all over the world, regardless of race, creed, or economic status. Danny and all his benefactors vowed to do everything in their power, spiritually, physically, mentally, and financially to bring about the defeat of catastrophic diseases. They began with leukemia, and by God’s grace would move on to curing other diseases. His new building lead the world in advancements in pediatric science and clinical care.
In the video, it cut to a voiceover saying that as the video was being made, there was a family walking through the doors on a Friday afternoon at St. Jude. When she came to St. Jude, she asked the doctor if he could treat her child. He said no, but rather they would cure him.
Odette came up to talk more about St. Jude. She talked about how September was actually childhood cancer awareness month. She thanked everyone who was wearing a gold pin as well as to everyone for their generous support for St. Jude and the fight against childhood cancer. Every year, approximately 16,000 parents in the U.S. will hear the words, “Your child has cancer.” Unfortunately, this remains the number one cause of death by disease in children. As seen in the video, St. Jude exists to bring hope to some of these families to help bridge that gap in the survival rate of pediatric cancer. One of the great things about St. Jude is that because of events like I Survived Real Estate, doctors and researchers have the financial freedom to not worry about whether they will have the money needed to treat a child. They will do whatever they can to cure that child, and this is a beautiful thing. Not only that, but no family receives a bill. Not for their treatment, nor for their travel, housing, or food. All they have to worry about is helping their child live.
This all exists because of Danny Thomas and his dream and inspiration to others. Danny actually had a drawing of the hospital in the shape of a star on a cocktail napkin. Before the hospital was built, he would go from state to state and take this napkin with him to talk about his dream and vision. It was because of his passion that he was able to build a hospital that has now helped bring survival rates from 20% when the hospital opened to more than 80% today. Who would have thought that from The Norris Group’s vision ten years ago that they would have raised $780,000 for charities. She said this speaks a lot to their hearts and thanked them again.
The next person to speak was Michael Hickman, one of the board members at Make A Wish and who had been in real estate. Before he spoke, they showed their own video about a child named Jorge who had a tumor in his eye. His dream was to be a soldier, and Make A Wish made it happen by taking him to an army base. Here, he got to work with First Lieutenant Campbell, the operations officer, Captain Rivera, the executive officer for the battalion, and several marines. They saluted him in honor of him being there with them. He also had the opportunity to see what it was like to train and experiment with some of their equipment. They gave him a special ranking so the marines would salute him when passing him. He got to train with a martial arts expert. Those who were in charge said they wanted to do everything possible to make sure he got the full experience. It felt good at the end of the day to know they helped just a little bit through the family’s and individual’s challenges. This kid got to live exactly what he wanted to do, and this is the beauty of Make a Wish.
Mike spoke about how it was his distinct honor and pleasure to serve on the board. He had just concluded his term as chairman of the board, and what this allows him to do is not just see the corporate and fundraising side of things, but also to spend time with the most important thing about Make a Wish: the kids. Most know that Make a Wish is about helping children and granting their wish for medically eligible children. The mission is hope, strength, and joy. However, what people do not know is the ripple effect of what happens when the power of a wish strikes a family and young person.
In his tenure as chairman of the board, he had the opportunity to meet the mother of the original Make a Wish child. Christopher was 8 years old when he had leukemia, and he always wished to be a highway patrolman in Arizona. The Make a Wish headquarters was in Phoenix, and there was a group of highway patrolmen who came together. Without their superiors knowing, they took him out in a car, got him in uniform, and took him for a ride in a helicopter. After granting Christopher his wish, they came back and started Make a Wish by taking money out of their own pocket and started with $37.12. This was 35 years ago. Christopher died a few days later, and he became the first Wish angel. This is the name they give to all the kids who died from their illness.
Mike read off some of the things Jorge had the opportunity to do. Not only did he get his uniform, he got to go to the helicopter simulator, rode in a helicopter, had lunch hosted by the general and his wife, toured an airplane, rode in a tank, and had the time of his life. The chairman of the board at the time got to experience this first-hand, and for him it was a life-changing event.
On ESPN, there was a young gentleman named Ray Ray in Santa Ana who always wished to meet Zack Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys. They surprised him that day by showing up with Zack and the team at ESPN. A year prior when he was being fitted for his helmet that he had a pain in his head that turned out to be a brain tumor. He was told he could not play football. Zack and the team at ESPN showed up to tell Ray Ray that he was going to see the Dallas Cowboys play. You really see the true power of a wish by seeing this. Ray even got to have his own press conference, standing in front of the Dallas Cowboys. He rode in Jerry Jones’ helicopter, in which even the players are not allowed to ride. The ripple effect of what happened that day started with his ride to the airport in a limousine when everyone inside was affected. The Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders lined up to welcome him to the training center, and they were effected too. Every single person in the organization was effected, and that is the power of a wish.
One of their big supporters is Disney, and last year they granted 335 wishes. Not only did they grant these wishes, they assisted with 647 wishes from outside California who came here for a wish. They touched 1,000 kids. One of the reasons Mike was there at the event because they are only touching half of the kids out there who are medically eligible, and it is their duty and responsibility to go out to find those kids and grant their wish. Mike told Aaron how people like him are rare and showed his appreciation for all he did.
The Norris Group would like to thank its gold sponsors for supporting I Survived Real Estate: First Lending Solutions, Guaranteed Rate and Nathan Chabolla, In A Day Development, Inland Valley Association of Realtors, Jennifer Buys Houses, Keller Williams Corona, Keystone CPA, LA South REIA, Michael Ryan, New Western, North San Diego Real Estate Investors, Northern California Real Estate Investors Association, Orange County Investment Club, Pacific Premiere Bank, Pasadena FIBI, Pilot Limousine, RealWealth Network, Rick and LeeAnne Rossiter, the San Jose Real Estate Investors Association, San Francisco Bay Real Estate Networking Summit, Sonoca Properties, South Orange County Real Estate Club, Spinnaker Loans, Think Realty, uDirect IRA Services, Westin South Coast Plaza, Wilson Investment Properties, Inc. See www.isurvivedrealestate.com for event information.
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