For New York Savills associate Julia Heriford and Executive Managing Director John Johnson, making deals and money took a back seat to fundraising for a day this month.
Heriford, Johnson and several other Savills employees in several markets took part in the 2022 JDRF Real Estate Games, a day full of competitive dodgeball, basketball, rock climbing, Jenga and other events designed to raise money for the JDFR Foundation, a global organization that's created a research plan to help end Type 1 diabetes.
The 11 teams participating in the 2022 games raised $268,000 for the foundation.
New York City-based Savills North America is the founding partner of the JDRF Real Estate Games. In 1990, Savills Vice Chairman Adam Singer, a director emeritus of the JDRF International board who's lived with Type 1 diabetes for more than 40 years, created the competition to help find a cure for the chronic health condition.
The games have raised more than $11 million for research through events in Washington, New York and Chicago, where Savills senior managing director Richard Plonsker launched the competition.