Adam Singer and Rick Kimball founded the JDRF Real Estate Games in 1989 and hosted the first event on July 20, 1990 at Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C. The ’90 Games gained support from 23 real estate brokerage and development firms, 200 participants and 38 volunteers to raise $28,000 for type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. Twenty-eight years later, the Games have become the single most important event in the D.C. real estate industry and now receive the support of more than 130 companies, 2,500 participants and 200 volunteers raising more than $500,000 annually.

In 2016, the JDRF New York City Chapter launched their inaugural NY Games, chaired by Jim Whelan to raise $82,000 for T1D research. Last year, the NY Games doubled the number of participants and raised more than $225,000. The commercial real estate industry, in both D.C. and New York, has truly embraced JDRF and now we are building on this success and bringing the Games to Chicago!