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Sack full of happiness

Hispanic real estate pros donate gifts, time to families

The holiday season is usually the slow season in the home-selling business. But a group of Hispanic real estate professionals are keeping busy with a charity event which has grown into an annual drive to bring Christmas cheer to dozens of needy families.

The Fiesta de Navidad is one of the largest events for the Hispanic Association of Real Estate Professionals (HAREP), a networking and advocacy group. This year, the group will hold a celebration on Dec. 2 for about 40 families from neighborhoods around Osborn Middle School in Phoenix. Each family is matched with sponsors from the organization and from the group's network of lenders, insurers and other business partners.

Sponsors not only donate gifts, bicycles for each child and grocery gift cards for Christmas dinner, but they also host a carnival for the children and serve lunch to everyone, says Margie O'Campo de Castillo, of Arizona Dream Realty, who chairs this year's event and was president of HAREP during the first Fiesta de Navidad four years ago.

"We get to mingle with everybody and really get to share in that joy," she says.

Osborn Middle School was "thrilled" to be selected this year. "A lot of our families are going to benefit from this," says assistant principal Leslie Beauchamp.

Once again this year, Glendale Realtor Edward L. Santana will trade his shirt and tie for the familiar big red suit, black boots and white beard. Kids and parents take pictures with Santa, Mrs. Claus and their sponsors after receiving their gifts.

Santana and current HAREP president Albert Mendez both work at the Century 21 Academy office where the roots of Fiesta de Navidad began. Their office began delivering Christmas gifts, food and even household items like beds to the homes of about a half-dozen needy families over 10 years ago.

For Nancy Camargo, a.k.a. Mrs. Claus, the charitable event has brought her as much joy as it has the sponsored families. Her husband, Marcelino Camargo, vice president of HAREP, encouraged her to volunteer at the first Fiesta de Navidad just eight months after a devastating forklift accident left her unable to work and re-learning how to walk.

Each year she sees up-close thankful parents with tears in their eyes and excited children, like the little girl last year who didn't want to let go of her new pink bike even when it was time to load it up and take it home.

For information on sponsoring a family for next year's Fiesta de Navidad, contact O'Campo de Castillo at Margie@ArizonaDreamRealty.com.