SPRINGFIELD (July 31, 2012) At a general membership breakfast on July 17, 2012 at Illini Country Club the Capital Area Association of REALTORS (CAAR) presented a check for $17,000 to the Land of Lincoln Honor Flight.

The Honor Flight program is a nation-wide network dedicated to providing all veterans who apply a free trip to Washington, DC to visit memorials honoring their service and sacrifice. All expenses for this one-day trip are the sole responsibility of the Land of Lincoln Honor Flight. Participating in the check presentation on behalf of CAAR were President-elect Don Cave and Community Service Committee Chair Kaye Brittin. Ralph Foster, Ground Operations Specialist, attended the presentation representing LLHF.

Each year, the Community Service Committee chooses one organization or cause to support. For the entire year, the association’s charitable fundraising is directed toward that particular cause. This year the cause that was chosen was the Land of Lincoln Honor Flight. Several fundraising efforts were undertaken including the raffle of a sleigh, the sponsorship of miles to get to Washington DC and back at $10 per mile, a very well attended “USO-Theme Show”, the raffle of WWII reproduction posters along with a hole-in-one challenge and the sale of mulligans at the Summer Outing. Also, a portion of our sponsor fees from the Summer Outing went to this.

All totaled, an impressive $17,000 has been raised for this worthwhile cause. The actual contribution was directed through the Capital Area REALTORS Fund administered by the Land of Lincoln Community Foundation. CAAR expresses its thanks to the many individuals and businesses that made financial and in-kind contributions and the volunteers who made this fundraiser a huge success.

"CAAR has been involved in a variety of worthwhile causes, however, I can’t remember one that has touched the hearts of our committee and the community quite the way the Honor Flight program has. This is truly a worthwhile cause and we were thrilled to be a part of it,” said REALTOR Todd Musso, president of CAAR. Over the past seven years, CAAR has donated over $95,000 to various area causes including Land of Lincoln Honor Flight, M.E.R.C.Y. Communities, Boys and Girls Clubs of Cental Illinois, Central Illinois Foodbank, Salvation Army, the Hoogland Center for the Arts, Southwind Park, Helping Hands of Springfield, “Relay-for-Life”, American Red Cross and the Iles House Foundation, to name a few.

The Capital Area Association of REALTORS® is the Voice for Real Estate in the Capital Area representing nearly 700 members involved in all aspects of the real estate industry. The Capital Area's Resource for Real Estate Information can be found at www.SeeHouses.com .

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"Golden Girls and Guy"

"Group Therapy"

"Three's Company"

Birds & Brooks

Coca-Cola, Springfield

Contractor's Lumber

Global Printing Company

IL Department of Transportation

Illinois National Guard

Illinois State Military Museum

Mid-West Family Broadcasting Group

Party Creations

Prairie House Custom Frames

The Chatford Orchestra

The Office Sports Bar and Grill

The Senior Center

Town & Country Bank

VFW Post 775

Danny Daniels (WMAY 970)

Melanie Dennison

Henry DuPont

Jim Faloon

John Lang

Bob Kyes

April McClintock

Amy Meneghetti (WQQL Cool 101.9)

Troy Roark (The Real Estate Group)

Chris Schaller (WMAY 970)

Sherry Washburn (Coldwell Banker Devonshire Realty)

Grayden Zuver