In observance of National Red Cross Month, Quicken Loans, the nation’s largest online lender, and the Red Cross, Southeastern Michigan Chapter announced a new partnership to support the Chapter’s Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) program. SAF offers several financial and social resources to Michigan military personnel, families and veterans.

Quicken Loans is contributing more than $20,000 to the Chapter to fund the creation of a new comprehensive Web-based tool for use exclusively by active duty military. Powered by Quicken Loans, this new resource will assist military personnel in getting important legal records and benefits in order prior to deployment and provide an educational guide on buying or refinancing a home.

“We, much like the Red Cross, understand the importance of supporting the brave men and women of our military,” said Bill Emerson, CEO of Quicken Loans. “We have leveraged the collective knowledge of our family of companies to help provide our hometown service members with the financial tools they need to rest assured things are being cared for at home, allowing them to focus on their difficult tasks abroad.”

 In addition to providing a new information resource, Quicken Loans’ contribution will also go towards supporting the Chapter’s overall SAF program, including around-the-clock worldwide emergency communications between all service members and their families, access to financial assistance in times of crisis, case management support and more. As the state lead for Red Cross SAF program, the Chapter also coordinates workshops for military personnel and families throughout the state.

“We are extremely grateful to Quicken Loans for its generous support and commitment in assisting our military and their families,” said James Laverty, CEO of the Chapter. “This new online resource will help prepare military personnel and their families on issues that need to be addressed as part of their service to our nation and will be instrumental in our overall efforts to provide them with important assistance.”

Quicken Loans’ new web-based financial resource offers military personnel a comprehensive, step-by-step process to assist in managing their important financial affairs as they prepare for service.

Military personnel also will have access to helpful links to learn about such things as government initiatives, making it easy to refinance, and tax credits for first-time home buyers. These resources can be accessed by visiting website.

(Information from March 30, 2010 press release.)

For the second straight year, the Quicken Loans Cleveland Web Center is working with the Cleveland Cavaliers to help make a difference in the community by stomping out hunger. 

Quicken Loans team members will be wearing jeans to raise funds for the 2010 Harvest for Hunger Campaign and will be conducting a one-week non-perishable food drive to stock the shelves of the Cleveland Food Bank where they often volunteer their assistance.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are holding a food drive to benefit Harvest for Hunger and are providing two opportunities for fans to join the effort by donating items at the next two home games at Quicken Loans Arena.  Fans attending the games are encouraged to bring canned foods and non-perishable items to put into collection bins that will be located at all arena entrances on Sunday, March 28 (vs. Sacramento at 3 p.m.) and Wednesday, March 31(vs. Milwaukee at 7 p.m.).

“Harvest for Hunger is a great movement and we are glad to be a part of the efforts to help local families,” said Jeff Perry, Vice President of the Cleveland Web Center.  “Our team members have donated many volunteer hours to the Cleveland Food Bank and it just made sense for us to combine our efforts with the Cavs and their fans to make Harvest for Hunger’s campaign successful.”

Harvest for Hunger is one of the largest annual, community-wide food and funds drives in America and provides critical resources to local hunger relief organizations in 19 counties in Northeast and North Central Ohio. Each donation assists hungry children and families in the community.  Harvest for Hunger is in particular need of peanut butter, tuna fish, canned vegetables, beef stew, canned soup and cereal, but all canned food and non-perishables will be accepted.  For more information on getting involved, please visit harvestforhunger.org.

About Quicken Loans:

Quicken Loans is the nation’s largest online retail mortgage lender and the fifth largest retail mortgage lender in the United States, closing more than $25 billion across all 50 states in retail home loan volume in 2009. The company, with 3,000-plus team members, closes loans from five Web Centers located in Michigan, Ohio and Arizona, and from its San Diego-based One Reverse Mortgage unit. The QuickenLoans.com Web site has been named “Best of the Web” by Forbes and Money magazine. Quicken Loans has been named to Fortune Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list for the past seven years, ranking as high as No. 2. The company also has been named one of Computerworld Magazine’s “100 Best Places to Work in Technology” for the past five years, ranking No. 1 in 2005, 2006 and 2007. For more information, visit www.QuickenLoans.com.

What can you achieve in just three hours on a Saturday afternoon? Think big!

This past Saturday, 20 Quicken Loans team members volunteered at Gleaners Community Food Bank in Detroit to help those in need. By the end of their shift, they had pulled and packed 13 orders of food that will be sent to Gleaners’ partners, such as soup kitchens, food pantries and shelters. Those 13 orders represented 28,258 pounds of food which equates to more than 28,000 meals!

According to one of the Quicken Loans volunteers, Stephen Bunchek, “It was a great day. It is amazing what our group accomplished. A lot of families in need will benefit from just a few hours of work we all put in. Everyone did an excellent job!”

 Gleaners has been feeding hungry people for over 32 years. Will you be the next to make a difference in the life of others with just a few hours of your time? For more information, visit their Web site.

Our very own Quicken Loans Telecom Team is used to talking about phones, installing phones, and making sure that all of the phones are always working properly at each of our sites. Recently, however, the team jumped on the phones for an entirely different reason. You may have seen their smiling faces, wearing headsets, while taking donations during the pledge drive at Detroit Public Television (DPTV). The entire team enjoyed this unique way of investing in their community, and hopes to return for future pledge drives. Quicken Loans and its family of companies is proud to support DPTV’s commitment to lifelong learning and their special emphasis on the development of young children.

By: Victoria Araj

Quicken Loans team members participated in the Go Red for Women Luncheon; Paula Silver delivers a "call to action" speech to raise funds for the American Heart Association

Quicken Loans team members were excited to participate in the metro Detroit Go Red for Women Luncheon which was held on Feb. 24 at the Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center. 

The event was held  to raise awareness about women’s heart health and featured interactive health exhibits, free massages with health screenings and a silent auction.  A red dress fashion show took place during the lunch in which women of every age and background modeled red fashions and included members of the Go Red for Women executive team and heart disease survivors.

Paula Silver, Vice President of Corporate Communications for Quicken Loans delivered a “call to action” address to more than 900 women, in which she shared her personal connection to the awareness effort and her commitment to educating women about healthy lifestyles to combat cardiovascular disease.  She encouraged the audience to donate funds to the American Heart Association stating that money raised not only helps women experiencing heart disease now, but also funds research that could someday help a family member or friend overcome the disease.  All who donated received a red feather boa and after just a few minutes, the entire room was a sea of red feathers!

The American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women movement highlights the ability for all women to work together to eradicate heart disease through knowledge, proper diet, regular health screenings, exercise and more.  Millions of women across the country can now identify the color red and the red dress as symbols for the organization’s effort to educate women on maintaining strong and healthy lives.

Quicken Loans was proud to be a part of this year’s Go Red for Women movement in the metro Detroit area and encourages all women to take the path to better health.

Please join Quicken Loans and Fathead as we support the Pistons’ 3rd annual Telethon to support the Food Bank Council of Michigan. A $1 donation will provide five meals for families in need. A $100 donation will fill a backpack of food for a student for a year that would otherwise go hungry over the weekend. Just click on the "Learn More" tab to the right under Upcoming Event to find out how you can donate. Be sure to look for Quicken Loans and Fathead team members working the phones at the telethon tonight during the Pistons vs. Celtics game!