Press

SAVE THE DATE! Tee Up for Charity is returning to Topgolf Burlingame on Thursday, September 24. Mark your calendars to join us for exclusive driving bay access — or cheer on your favorite players as a spectator — with hosted food and beverage, amazing prizes, professional networking and more, all to benefit the SAMCAR Foundation! Start getting your team together, donate a prize and spread the word... ticket sales open in August!

On Thursday, June 11, 2026 the San Mateo County REALTORS® Foundation returned to Bel Mateo Bowl for its eighth annual Bowl-O-Rama fundraiser event assembling scores of SAMCAR members, staff, and friends for an lively evening of bowling, prizes, and community, raising $6,300 to benefit housing-related charities in San Mateo County.

At their May meeting, SAMCAR Foundation Trustees approved second quarter (Q2) grants to two organizations -- $5,000 each to Rebuilding Together Peninsula and Society of St. Vincent de Paul of San Mateo County -- for a total amount of $10,000, with funds donated by SAMCAR members.

In 2025, the SAMCAR Foundation awarded more than $36,000 in grants and donations to a dozen charities in San Mateo County thanks in large part to the generous support of SAMCAR members and sponsors. Read more for a detailed report of 2025 charitable giving.

On Tuesday, December 9, the SAMCAR Foundation Council, Marketing Meetings and Special Events Committees hosted the fifth annual "Judy Ploshay Memorial Holiday Auction" at the Monterra Credit Union corporate headquarters in Redwood City, treating guests to breakfast sponsored by Janet Pepe Davis, and lively bidding with auctioneer Alan Kirth for a chance to take home auction items donated by SAMCAR members and local businesses, and support several beneficiary charities. The auction raised over thirteen thousand dollars in total for several beneficiary charities: Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, St. Anthony's Padua Dining Room, Coastside Hope, Pacifica Resource Center, San Carlos Education Foundation, SchoolForce Belmont-Redwood Shores Public School Foundation.

On Thursday, October 9, 2025 the San Mateo County REALTORS® Foundation gathered dozens of local real estate professionals at Topgolf in Burlingame for TEE UP FOR CHARITY, a fundraiser event raising more than $5,400 to benefit housing-related charities in San Mateo County.

On Thursday, June 12, 2025 the San Mateo County REALTORS® Foundation returned to Bel Mateo Bowl for its seventh annual Bowl-O-Rama fundraiser event bringing together scores of SAMCAR members, staff, and friends for an exuberant evening of bowling, prizes, and general merriment, raising more than $8,000 to benefit housing-related charities in San Mateo County.

At their February meeting, SAMCAR Foundation Trustees approved Q1 grants to two organizations -- $5,000 to Rebuilding Together Peninsula and $3,000 to Nuestra Casa -- for a total amount of $8,000, with funds donated by SAMCAR members. Read more about the services each of these organizations provides in San Mateo County and how their work aligns with the SAMCAR Foundation's mission.

In 2024, the SAMCAR Foundation awarded $27,000 in grants and donations to numerous charities in San Mateo County thanks in large part to the generous support of SAMCAR members and sponsors. Read more for a detailed report of 2024 charitable giving.

On Thursday, September 19, 2024, the San Mateo County REALTORS® Foundation hosted a Casino Night fundraiser event at Par 3 at Poplar Creek in San Mateo, bringing together SAMCAR members, staff, and friends for food and drink, games, prizes, and a live auction, raising over $4,000 to benefit housing-related charities in San Mateo County.

On Thursday, June 13, 2024 the San Mateo County REALTORS® Foundation returned to Bel Mateo Bowl for its popular Bowl-o-Rama fundraiser event bringing together around two hundred SAMCAR members, staff, and friends for an energetic evening of bowling, prizes and fun, raising more than $7,500 to benefit housing-related charities in San Mateo County.

In 2023, the SAMCAR Foundation awarded $51,700 in grants and donations to numerous charities in San Mateo County thanks in large part to the generous support of SAMCAR members and sponsors. Read more for a detailed report of 2023 charitable giving.

On Wednesday October 18, 2023, the San Mateo County REALTORS® Foundation hosted Cheers for Charity, a fundraiser event at Devil's Canyon Brewing Company in San Carlos, bringing together around 100 SAMCAR members, staff, and friends for food and drink, live music from the AS IS BAND, a trivia contest and generally fun evening that raised $9,200 to benefit housing-related charities in San Mateo County.

On Thursday, June 22, 2023 the San Mateo County REALTORS® Foundation returned to Bel Mateo Bowl for its popular Bowl-o-Rama fundraiser event bringing together over 200 SAMCAR members, staff, and friends for an energetic evening of bowling, prizes and fun, raising more than $6,400 to benefit housing-related charities in San Mateo County.

In 2022, the SAMCAR Foundation awarded $54,000 in grants and donations to numerous charities in San Mateo County thanks in large part to the generous support of SAMCAR members and sponsors. Read more for a detailed report of 2022 charitable giving.

On Wednesday, October 19, 2022, the San Mateo County REALTORS® Foundation returned to Bel Mateo Bowl for its popular Bowl-o-Rama fundraiser event bringing together over 200 SAMCAR members, staff, and friends for an energetic evening of bowling, raffle prizes and fun, raising more than $7,800 to benefit housing-related charities in San Mateo County.

In August 2021, the SAMCAR Foundation awarded CORA (Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse) a $2,500 grant to provide support towards keeping domestic violence survivors and their children safely housed in the San Carlos area. Read more for a report from CORA providing a snapshot of the impact of this partnership on the lives of survivors of intimate partner abuse and their children.

On Thursday, June 16, 2022, for the first time in nearly two years, the San Mateo County REALTORS® Foundation hosted "Cheers for Charity"—an in-person fundraiser event at Dominic's at Oyster Point in South San Francisco—bringing together SAMCAR members, staff, and friends for dinner, drinks, raffle prizes and live music from the As Is Band, raising more than $5,900 to benefit housing-related charities in San Mateo County.

In 2021, the SAMCAR Foundation awarded $46,800 in grants and donations to numerous charities in San Mateo County thanks in large part to the generous support of SAMCAR members and sponsors. Read more for a detailed report of 2021 charitable giving.

On Tuesday, September 28, Boris Vatkin from HEART of San Mateo County and John Souza from Meriwest Credit Union presented about the HEART First Time Homebuyer Loan Program at the SAMCAR Marketing Meeting on Zoom. Together with Meriwest Mortgage, a subsidiary of Meriwest Credit Union, HEART has created a unique loan package that is not offered by any other lender. HEART's goal is simple: to help buyers purchase a home with 5% downpayment and no PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance). learn more at http://heartofsmc.org/

Thanks to the generous support of SAMCAR members, sponsors and community, our 2021 #SAMCARGivesBack fundraising campaign has raised $41,000, far exceeding our initial fundraising goal. Supported by unique fundraising events including "Thursday Night Live," this year's fundraising campaign drove community involvement and generous giving, which allowed Foundation Trustees to approve quarterly grants to numerous housing-related charities throughout the year. Read more for an overview of what the SAMCAR Foundation has been able to accomplish with your support.

Last September, the SAMCAR Foundation made a donation to the San Bruno Community Foundation supporting the Crestmoor Neighborhood Memorial Scholarship and we are honored that this contribution could help support the 13 outstanding San Bruno students who have demonstrated a strong commitment to the San Bruno community with multi-year college scholarships totaling $195,000. Read more to learn about the scholarship and meet the 2021 recipients.

In case you missed it, you can now view a recording of SAMCAR's first-ever virtual variety show "Thursday Night Live" (originally aired on Zoom on May 20, 2021) on YouTube! Hosted by Jessica Eva and featuring performances by (in order of appearance) Erik Winkler, Ann Palermo, Vivienne Kelvin, Mark Martinho, Alfredo Mendoza, Michelle Velez, Anne Rodrigues Toth, Toni Burrows, Marlin Handley, Gregory Strang & Suzanne Sims, Alan Kirth, Kathy Wall, Anna May, and Gary Pellegrini with special appearances by Jesse Gutierrez and Gina Zari, and produced by High Dive Studio, watch entertaining musical and comedic performances in support of the SAMCAR Foundation's #SAMCARGivesBack 2021 charitable fundraising campaign.

In 2020, the SAMCAR Foundation awarded more than $80,000 in grants and donations to numerous charities in San Mateo County, including a wildfire relief fundraising effort led by Half Moon Bay REALTORS®, several member-directed pass-through donations, and a special donation to the San Bruno Community Foundation Crestmoor Neighborhood Scholarship. Read more for a detailed report of 2020 charitable giving.