Real estate is a tough business in this town, but you wouldn’t have known it at the annual luncheon of the Realty Foundation of New York. The city’s most powerful developers, among them Larry Silverstein, Harry Macklowe, and Burt Resnick, showed their soft side Tuesday at the Waldorf-Astoria.

The purpose of the gathering was to raise money to distribute in the form of grants and scholarships to real estate professionals in need, from secretaries to former titans who have fallen on hard times. In its 50 years, the foundation, founded by Jack Weiler and Harry Helmsley, has distributed more than $4.5 million.

More than 600 real estate professionals attended the luncheon, a record number for the event, in large part due to the work of the event’s designated Man of the Year, Kent Swig, an owner and cochairman of Terra Holdings LLC. Terra’s Brown Harris Stevens and Halstead Properties combined for more than $6 billion in residential real estate sales last year.

Mr. Swig is a devoted philanthropist who supports Jewish causes, civic groups such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, and educational institutions, including his own alma maters (Brown and Marin Academy), his children’s schools, and a school in Israel for disadvantaged children.

He traces his generous spirit to his grandfather Benjamin Swig. “As much as he was a phenomenal businessman, the first thing that comes to mind is his philanthropic endeavors,” Mr. Swig said. “In the 1940s, he gave his first $5,000, which he could barely afford. It changed his life. He became a big believer in giving and helping and putting back into society,” Mr. Swig said over the telephone yesterday.

Mr. Swig’s first check was to a cancer organization when he was 13, after his mother died. The Realty Foundation holds a special place in his philanthropy because one of its co-founders, JackWeiler, was business partners with his grandfather.

The president of the foundation, Jerry Cohen, praised Mr. Swig for drawing a record crowd (up by 50% from last year) and “more young faces.”

“It’s something that’s extremely important, to invigorate younger people and get them used to the idea that we’re fortunate and blessed and that we have an obligation to help others,” Mr. Swig said.

He understands the challenges. “When you’re younger, you think that you’re a little bit immune to problems, or you can recover from them. You’re thinking about your own life, your children, your growth, and sometimes it’s hard to devote time, energy, and money to other critical things. It’s not because people don’t care but because they don’t have the exposure to it,” Mr. Swig said.

He noted the professional benefits of being generous early on. “When I moved to New York 18 years ago, I didn’t know that many people,” he said. “I met people through charitable and civic organizations because people aren’t on their guard there. They’re doing altruistic things. … I got to know a whole generation of people that I never would have known otherwise. And guess what, when you meet people, you become friendly, so when a deal comes up, all of a sudden, it’s made easier.”

“They say the more you give, the better things happen to you. It’s true for me,” Mr. Swig said.

The foundation also announced that it is naming the scholarship fund in memory of Charles Benenson, a director of the foundation who died last year.

“He would be embarrassed that the scholarship was named for him,” Benenson’s youngest son, Lawrence, said yesterday.

“I remember vividly my father going through grant proposals. He was extremely diligent and cared very much about realtors who had fallen upon hard times. He also wanted less advantaged people to have access to a good education,” Mr. Benenson said.