McCarthy’s Arizona office recently selected Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona and the Salute a Soldier Foundation as recipients of the firm’s 2008 McCarthy Heart Hats grants. The McCarthy Heart Hats community outreach program is dedicated to ensuring real community needs are being met through hands-on activities and financial support. Last year alone, more than $1 million was raised for charity via McCarthy’s Heart Hats program. Funds for the 2008 recipients will be raised during the annual McCarthy Heart Hats Golf Tournament on Mon., Dec. 8, 2008, at the Grayhawk Golf Club in North Scottsdale.
“Both organizations fulfill critical needs within our community,” said Bo Calbert, president of McCarthy’s Southwest Region. “Our team is eager to begin work on a Habitat home early next year, and we feel privileged to be able to give back to soldiers who have sacrificed so much for our freedom.”
Habitat for Humanity is a natural fit for McCarthy and its experienced team of construction professionals. The McCarthy Heart Hats team will provide funding and manpower to build a new home in a southeast Phoenix community. The “Wall Raising” ceremony and first eight-hour work day will take place on Feb. 14, 2009, with the McCarthy Heart Hats crew and deserving family who will work together to build the new home.
“Habitat for Humanity is honored to have been chosen as one of this year’s McCarthy Heart Hats recipients. McCarthy has elected to sponsor and build a home for a military veteran and his family. This is an extension of their commitment to give back to the community and to those who made sacrifices to preserve our freedom,” said Roger Schwierjohn, president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona.
The Salute a Soldier Foundation also represents a good fit for Heart Hats because numerous McCarthy employees have served honorably in the military. The Mesa-based Salute a Soldier Foundation raises public awareness and funds to assist with the needs of injured military service members and their families. The organization provides financial, emotional, spiritual and social support to U.S. veterans as they return to their communities from the Middle East.
“Salute a Soldier is very grateful to McCarthy Heart Hats for this grant, which will help us continue serving injured service members and their families as they return to our Arizona communities and rebuild their lives. Salute a Soldier has had the privilege of helping numerous families with mortgage payments, food, gas, utility payments and social events. We are honored to serve those who have given so much for our freedoms,” said Brent Bretz, president of the Salute a Soldier Foundation.
Prior recipients of Heart Hats grants in Arizona include Gabriel’s Angels, Tempe/Kyrene Communities in Schools and Crisis Nursery. Last year, Gabriel’s Angels received $50,000 to expand its child-focused pet therapy programs to an additional 20 agencies currently on the organization’s waiting list. In 2006, Tempe/Kyrene Communities in Schools received $35,000 to furnish a new family resource center at Scales Technology Academy in Tempe. And in 2005, Crisis Nursery was awarded $25,000 to serve a greater number of children threatened by abuse, neglect or homelessness.
The McCarthy Heart Hats community outreach program is dedicated to encouraging, supporting and recognizing McCarthy employees’ volunteer efforts in a variety of causes to ensure real needs are being met in communities where employees work, live and play. McCarthy employees are as passionate about building better communities as they are about construction. In addition to the annual McCarthy Heart Hats golf tournament, McCarthy employees are also encouraged to take part in community outreach individually and through company-sponsored activities, including a company-wide paid volunteer day.
About Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona
Serving Central Arizona since 1985, Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona (HFHCAZ) is a grassroots Christian housing organization dedicated to eliminating poverty housing by building affordable housing. Habitat helps families of low and moderate incomes become homeowners. HFHCAZ also builds community partnerships that promote spiritual values and individual responsibility. Currently the affiliate has completed approximately 700 homes and is active in Apache Junction, Avondale, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Mesa, Peoria, Phoenix and Surprise. Habitat for Humanity International, based in Americus, Georgia, is an ecumenical Christian ministry dedicated to eliminating poverty housing. Habitat International dedicated its 200,000th house last summer and has more than 1 million people living in Habitat homes they helped build and are buying through no-profit, zero-interest mortgages. For more information, visit www.habitatcaz.org.
About Salute a Soldier Foundation
Founded by U.S. Army Sniper (retired) Brent Bretz after he was seriously injured in Iraq in December 2004, the mission of the Salute a Solider Foundation is to raise public awareness and funds to assist with the needs of injured military service members and their families by providing financial, emotional, spiritual and social support. For more information, visit www.saluteasolider.org.
About McCarthy Building Companies
Ranked among the “Best Places to Work” by The Business Journal in Phoenix, McCarthy has helped define the Arizona landscape for more than 30 years. Founded in 1864, McCarthy is one of the oldest and largest privately held construction firms in the nation. McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. For more information, visit www.mccarthy.com.
