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News Releases
The Warrick Dunn Foundation and Homes for the Holidays (HFH) announces a unique sponsorship that seeks to underline the greater gifts of sports and business in a sponsorship that is designed to inspire and motivate others through the effort of a local real estate broker, Prudential Tropical Realty (PTR). TAMPA, Fla. (Dec. 21, 2004) – In the Bay area and throughout the world sports news is commonly associated with colorful personalities and large amounts of money. The Warrick Dunn Foundation and Homes for the Holidays (HFH) announces a unique sponsorship that seeks to underline the greater gifts of sports and business in a sponsorship that is designed to inspire and motivate others through the effort of a local real estate broker, Prudential Tropical Realty (PTR). The partnership is the result of a shared goal of broker owners Dewey Mitchell and Allen Crumbley of Prudential Tropical Realty, which was to join forces with a charitable effort that would allow them to challenge PTR brokers, sales associates, employees, buyers and sellers to become more involved in the larger community. As an active business in the community they wanted to find an organization or effort that would provide direct contact for their 425 realtors and 87 employees and provide them with an investment that would strengthen and sustain the local community for future generations. PTR already had a Philanthropy Committee of brokers, sales associates and employees who were the heartbeat of the effort. Through many years of experience in the housing and mortgage business, they understand the challenges associated with achieving the American dream of homeownership. With offices in Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, the opportunity also had to make sense geographically but the highest priority was to look beyond the traditional sponsorship package concept and try to create a partnership with shared values and a long term view. Simultaneously, Homes for the Holidays and its Board were in a growth mode and looking to strategically decide its course for the future. With some long term planning under its belt and the Board expanding, HFH was actively searching for donors with the capacity to understand how homeownership can affect the everyday lives of women and children in local communities and for someone to further public discussion of this issue, thereby helping create greater sustainability. Often referred to as Corporate Community Engagement or Good Cause Marketing, this trend of business spending has proven to have a positive impact on companies' bottom lines, according to a 2002 Cone/Roper Corporate Citizenship Survey report. Approximately 86 percent of consumers support the idea of companies they do business with putting effort and dollars toward further support of the charitable needs of their communities. Additionally, according to a survey by the Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College, despite recession and the financial turbulence in the 2002-2003 fiscal years, 86 percent of businesses maintained or increased their investments in corporate citizenship. The owners of Prudential Tropical Realty didn’t know about this trend or how it might affect their bottom line but as long-standing members of the community – they knew they wanted to do more than simply donate or have employees donate to a fund. "Many of us are lucky enough to be able to write a check for something extra but to us the idea was to provide an example of how lots of people can get involved. With more people working toward the same positive effort, well, we just thought it was a better idea," Mitchell said. "When we sat down and learned about what Warrick has done with his Foundation, the way he’s managed it and the way he has been so personally involved, we felt there was a natural tie-in with what we do at Prudential Tropical Realty so we were excited to find such a natural fit." No stranger to sports, both partners grew up playing youth sports and played football together at Alabama under the legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. From Coach Bryant, Mitchell and Crumbley say they learned about integrity and how to fairly compete and they continue to draw on these teachings. Mitchell also excelled in Judo, earning seven gold, three silver and five bronze medals from various national championships and went on to lead the U.S. Olympic Judo Team as captain in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, Calif. Crumbley was also named "1st Team Status" on the 1978 Alabama National Championship Football Team. Mitchell and Crumbley understand the unique position of achieving success as an athlete and admired the way Warrick Dunn had managed his time and talent. After learning more about Dunn’s work and his future goals, Mitchell and Crumbley presented the philanthroship opportunities to their Philanthropy Committee. Dunn was on hand to answer questions and soon after the decision was unanimous to move ahead as the Homestead Sponsor for 2005. At a commitment level of $100,000, Crumbley is confident in the investment. "We’re not really big on putting our names out there in this way usually but we saw this program as a natural extension of what we’ve worked to achieve in our home and business communities. We thought Warrick’s program offered the additional opportunity to encourage others to get involved and we got excited about that," Crumbley added. The sponsorship officially begins in January 2005 but already Prudential Tropical Realty has been busy working with Homes for the Holidays in getting this year’s house ready for occupancy. "It was just such a good fit – we are in the ‘homes’ business and we know how much it means to have a place of one’s own," said Philanthropy Committee member Sandy Barley. "But the icing on the cake is being able to work toward getting the ‘dream’ ready for the people who will turn it from bricks and mortar into a home – that’s something we can all relate to and that’s why I’m happy we’re doing this," he added. Warrick Dunn says he couldn’t be happier about Prudential Tropical Realty’s help. "I like to have confidence in the people we work closely with and it’s hard to imagine a more trusted name than Dewey Mitchell’s. It’s nice to be in good company, and I particularly like that he is humble about his many accomplishments. I have learned that he is not only a nice guy but also a well-respected person too. This is all good news for Homes for the Holidays and good news for the community too." Prudential Tropical Realty has 13 offices located throughout Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco counties and consistently ranks among the top five real estate companies in the area. Locally owned and operated since 1959, the Prudential Tropical Realty team offers residential, commercial, property management, relocation, title, and mortgage services.
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