Tennis stars serve up €104,220 for Habitat for Humanity via Whirlpool and the WTA Tour’s innovative “Aces for Homes”
Madrid, Spain, Nov. 10, 2007 — Whirlpool and the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour were joined today by the top female tennis players in the world to announce that a phenomenal 104,220 has been raised in 2007 for the international housing charity Habitat for Humanity as a direct result of the highly successful “Aces for Homes” initiative. The official presentation of the donation was made at the end-of-season players’ party at the exclusive club Midnight Rose.
Relaunched in February at the Open Gaz de France in Paris, 10.00 was pledged for every ace scored throughout the 2007 season, finishing at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid, to help raise funds for the Habitat for Humanity Women Build program in Europe. These builds were designed to specifically recruit, train and empower women to build housing for women-led families. Since the inception of Aces for Homes back in June 2005, total proceeds donated Habitat for Humanity now exceed 268,000.
“Aces for Homes goes from strength to strength. We are extremely proud and delighted by the amount of money raised for Habitat for Humanity from the Aces for Homes initiative and would like to thank the players on the tour for their precision and accuracy whilst scoring an incredible amount of aces this season!” said Giuseppe Perucchetti, senior vice president, Market Operations, Whirlpool Europe. “The tour offers us a unique platform to connect with our consumers and showcase our technology while also enabling us to work with top athletes to make a difference to people’s lives.”
“The Aces for Homes program is a tribute to the commitment of Whirlpool and tour players to giving back to communities throughout the world,” said Larry Scott, CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. “Our players are role models for women and girls, and the Women Build program is designed to not only provide housing to families in need, but also to empower women.”
The Women Build program addresses the lack of affordable housing, an issue which disproportionately affects women and children. Women Build will benefit many families around Europe as well as South Africa whose health and well-being are threatened by inadequate housing. Whirlpool’s commitment to diversity, inclusion and the empowerment of women to achieve the best possible lives for themselves and their families is reflected both in this commitment to women-led households, and in the growing women’s network inside Whirlpool Europe. This network provides business-focused solutions to enhance the value that Whirlpool offers its customers, at the same time as helping women to grow as professionals and individuals, often while balancing the demands of home and work.
Ana Ivanovic, who possesses one of the most feared serves on tour today said, “The players were thrilled to hear that Whirlpool and the tour would continue with the ‘Aces for Homes’ scheme. Serving an ace is very exciting; it really gets the adrenaline pumping and to know that each one raises money for Habitat for Humanity makes it feel all the more special.” Ana Ivanovic went on to rack up a huge number of aces throughout the season, contributing more than 2,500 herself to this fantastic cause. This year, Wimbledon also saw the women players’ serving at its most precise and accurate, accumulating the most amount of aces in a single tournament with 727 aces.
In April, one of these Women Builds in Poland had a very special “builder” when tennis ace supreme Nadia Petrova visited the site to work with fellow women in order to get her hands dirty for a fantastic cause. In addition to Aces for Homes, Whirlpool joined forces with other world class players, such as Justine Henin and Elena Dementieva, who also lent their support and participated in various activities to assist Habitat for Humanity. Initiatives involving tour players in the Whirlpool “Love Food’ cookbook, a unique collection of favourite recipes from the players, endeavour to raise awareness and further funds for the charity.
Don Haszczyn, area vice president, Europe and Central Asia, Habitat for Humanity, said, “The exemplary support and advocacy of Whirlpool and the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour have helped many families out of slum housing and into simple, decent homes. Their continued partnership will give hope to many more families in need and a big boost to getting the issue of inadequate shelter onto the public agenda across Europe and beyond. A huge thanks to Whirlpool and the tour from all at Habitat for Humanity and from those families whose lives they have touched.”
Money raised via the 2007 Aces for Homes programme has been distributed across a total of 19 houses from a number of countries including Poland (one home), Russia (one), South Africa (one), Portugal (one), Slovakia (two), Kyrgyzstan (three), Armenia (four) and Macedonia (six). Whirlpool is one of the largest global partners of Habitat for Humanity. It has supported the charity for eight years and introduced its partnership to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, which has been met with great enthusiasm from the players.
About Whirlpool
With 14,000 employees, a sales presence in more than 30 European countries and manufacturing sites in seven countries, Whirlpool Europe is a wholly owned subsidiary of Whirlpool Corporation. The world’s leading manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances Whirlpool Corporation has annual sales of more than 18 billion, more than 73,000 employees, and more than 70 manufacturing and technology research centres around the world. The company markets Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Brastemp, Bauknecht and other major brand names to consumers in nearly every country around the world. Whirlpool’s European Operations’ Centre is located in Comerio (VA), Italy.
About the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour
The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour is the world’s largest premier professional sport for women with more than 1,300 players representing 75 nations competing for more than 62 million in prize money at the tour’s 62 events in 35 countries. More than 4.6 million people attended women’s tennis events in 2006 with millions more watching events on television networks around the world. The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour season concludes with the Sony Ericsson Championships at the Madrid Arena in Madrid, Spain, Nov. 6 to Nov. 11, 2007.
About Whirlpool/Habitat for Humanity Relationship
Whirlpool is one of the largest global partners of Habitat for Humanity International, an international housing charity. It has supported the charity since 1999 and recently introduced this partnership to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. Habitat for Humanity International is seeking to eliminate poverty housing from the world by inviting people of all backgrounds, races and religions to build houses together in partnership with families in need.
Whirlpool has supported the charity in many different ways over a number of years, both through conventional and unconventional means. Support has ranged from product donations to Whirlpool employees actively helping in building projects.
Through product donations, Whirlpool Europe donates three products to every Habitat home built in Europe and Central Asia. Worldwide, Whirlpool Corporation has made more than 50,000 appliances available to Habitat for Humanity affiliates and families.
Almost 3,500 Whirlpool employees have helped to build Habitat homes in Whirlpool locations and further Habitat houses in North America, Europe and South Africa. The partnership in now active in 18 countries worldwide and Whirlpool has more recently been involved in rebuilding communities throughout Southeast Asia that have been effected by the tsunami. The charity is close to the hearts of all Whirlpool employees and goes far beyond financial donations.