By Lookout Staff

November 29, 2011 -- It was influential realtor Joyce Rey's birthday recently. But her friends didn't throw her a party or shower her with gifts. Instead, they stayed home, raised a toast and donated $10,000 to buy gifts for disadvantaged kids.

The tradition benefiting St. Joseph Center, which has a store in Santa Monica and provides services for the city's poor, dates back to 1987, when Rey’s friends Cecelia & Cliff Waeschle celebrated the Coldwell Banker realtor's birthday by raising funds.

Since then, prominent Los Angeles business owners, realtors, civic leaders and friends have donated some $500,000 to support the non-profit agency's programs for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

"This year the Waeschles invited guests who would otherwise attend a birthday party to stay at home and raise a toast to Joyce from the comfort their own living rooms while sending their contributions to St. Joseph Center with a kind note for Joyce," organizers said.

One of only two executive directors of Previews International, (Estates Division of Coldwell Banker) in the U.S., Rey co-founded the first company to exclusively represent properties listed at more than $1 million dollars in America.

In 2010 she closed the highest sale by an agent in U.S. and broke the record for the West LA area. In 2006, Rey was selected as one of the 35 Most Influential People in real estate in the country.

This year’s birthday celebration will last throughout the holiday season, organizers said. To make a contribution, contact Valerie Harwin at St. Joseph Center by calling 310-396-6468 ext. 336.

All proceeds from the birthday celebration support St. Joseph Center’s childcare facility, which provides daycare as well as food pantry groceries, job training and affordable housing assistance vulnerable children and their families.

Each year St. Joseph Center assists more than 6,000 homeless and working poor men, women, and children from the communities of Santa Monica, Palms, Culver City, Mar Vista and Venice to move toward greater stability and self sufficiency. To learn more, visit ( www.stjosephctr.org).