09/11/2026
REALTORS® Relief Foundation’s 25th Anniversary
Twenty-five years ago, Dave Legaz was supposed to begin his NYPD shift in lower Manhattan as usual. Instead, his young son’s anxiety about going to school delayed him by an hour—a decision Legaz believes saved his life. On his way to work, he watched the planes strike the World Trade Center. Soon after, he was dispatched to Ground Zero, where he learned his partner, Detective Brian McDonnell, had been killed while rescuing others. Legaz spent five days searching the wreckage, sleeping only briefly at St. Paul’s Chapel. One morning, he awoke to find that a stranger had quietly placed a pillow under his head, tucked a blanket around him and left a damp cloth to wipe the toxic dust from his face. “I may never know who it was, but their compassion found me when I needed it most,” he recalls.
A year later, Legaz retired from the NYPD and became a real estate agent, finding a new way to fulfill the mission that had defined his career: “to protect, to guide and to serve.” His path eventually led him to the REALTORS® Relief Foundation, which was born in the aftermath of 9/11 when REALTORS® raised more than $8.4 million in just 100 days to help families affected by the attacks with housing costs. Today, Legaz serves as an RRF director and sees its work as part of the purpose he has sought in his own survival. “Out of tragedy can rise hope,” he says, “and each of us has the power to be a hero.” Read Legaz's full story and learn how REALTOR® members have built up support for the REALTORS® Relief Foundation. Also, NAR President Kevin Brown reflects on RRF’s 25-year legacy and how REALTORS® continue to help families find stability in the aftermath of disaster.
Legaz’s story is a powerful reminder that emergencies can change lives in an instant.
