BENTON HARBOR, Mich., Sept. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- As students get into the swing of things with a new school year, students at Indiana University Bloomington will swing hammers alongside Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) employees and members from Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County. Beginning with Indiana University's Sept. 14 football game against the Bowling Green Falcons, Whirlpool employees, IU's Kelley School of Business students and faculty will team up to build a new Habitat for Humanity home in partnership with a Bloomington family.
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Chris Schaaf, a champion golfer in the Special Olympics, will be the recipient of the new home and will live there independently with the support and encouragement of his parents, Linda and Larry. The home will be in a new neighborhood, only three blocks from other previous Whirlpool sponsored Habitat homes.
Chris will receive keys to his new home on the field of IU's Memorial Stadium, before the Hoosiers' game against the Missouri Tigers. The new home will be dedicated two hours before the 8 p.m. kickoff Sept. 21. Jeff Fettig, Whirlpool Corporation chairman and chief executive officer and an IU graduate, will participate in the dedication.
This will be the fourth consecutive year Whirlpool Corporation has sponsored a home build in a joint effort with IU, its Kelley Institute of Social Impact (which manages the build for the Kelley School of Business) and Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County on the Bloomington campus.
The build is part of Whirlpool-sponsored Habitat builds taking place throughout the country in 2013 and the company's ongoing initiative to donate a range and Energy Star-qualified refrigerator to every new Habitat home in the U.S. and Canada. Whirlpool Corporation, one of Habitat for Humanity International's top corporate partners, has sponsored more than 100 homes and served more than 95,500 families around the world and donated more than 140,000 appliances since the partnership began in 1999.
In addition to providing a home for a deserving family, the build also serves as an informal recruitment opportunity for Whirlpool with the Kelley School of Business. Students, soon to enter the workforce, will work side-by-side with Whirlpool employees and get to know each other in a way that trades the business suit for a hard hat in a non-traditional recruiting event.
"For the fourth consecutive year, Whirlpool is proud to partner with IU to build a home for a Bloomington family. We've seen firsthand the joy home ownership brings to families and Whirlpool is pleased to contribute," said Chris Ball, general manager, laundry business team, and an IU graduate. "It's also a unique opportunity to meet the next generation of the workforce. The interview-by-hard hat approach is a fresh way to connect with talented students who share our values and commitment to giving back to our communities."
About Monroe County Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County is a nonprofit housing ministry dedicated to building decent, affordable housing in partnership with those in need in Monroe County, Ind. Since 1988, this affiliate has built more than 135 homes in partnership with local families.
About Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington is known internationally for outstanding research, as well as for the quality of its undergraduate and graduate programs. With 42,000 students from more than 125 countries, the campus offers a dynamic academic and cultural experience in a traditional campus environment that includes Big Ten sports and the Little 500 bicycle race. The campus has been called one of the "most wired" campuses in the United States because of its commitment to emerging technologies.
About Habitat for Humanity International
Habitat for Humanity International is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that seeks to put God's love into action by bringing people together to build homes, communities and hope. Since 1976, Habitat has served more than 500,000 families by welcoming people of all races, religions and nationalities to construct, rehabilitate or preserve homes; by advocating for fair and just housing policies; and by providing training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions. For more information, to donate or to volunteer, please visit www.habitat.org, or follow us at www.facebook.com/habitat or at www.twitter.com/habitat_org or join Habitat's blog community atwww.habitat.org/blog.
About Whirlpool Corporation
In more than 12 years of partnership with Habitat for Humanity, Whirlpool Corporation has donated more than 140,000 ranges and ENERGY STAR-qualified refrigerators to new Habitat homes built in North America, serving 71,000 families. The company has sponsored more than 100 homes around the world and served more than 24,500 families in Europe alone. Additionally, because of our focus on investing in America, Whirlpool has donated more than 28,000 products to Habitat ReStore resale outlets in the United States, helping to raise over $4.6 million. A proud sponsor of Habitat's Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project since 2003, the value of the company's commitment to Habitat nears $78 million. With active partnerships in 40 countries, Whirlpool has engaged 8,000 employee volunteers and plans to support the work of Habitat around the world through product donations, financial contribution or volunteerism.
Whirlpool Corporation is the world's leading manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances, with annual sales of more than $19 billion in 2011, 68,000 employees and 65 manufacturing and technology research centers around the world. The company markets Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Brastemp, Consul, Bauknecht and other major brand names to consumers in nearly every country around the world.
SOURCE Whirlpool Corporation
