Quicken Loans Inc. continues to re-define routine corporate culture after being awarded the National Philanthropy Day Outstanding Corporation Award by the Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater Detroit Chapter. The award recognizes organizations that are dedicated to improving the quality of life in their community and around the world.

 “This honor is a tribute to our commitment to making a difference,” said Wendy Kemp, AVP of Community Relations at Quicken Loans. “Our team members, our clients, and our community - all shape who we are everyday.”

Kemp accepted the award in front of approximately 500 people representing over 100 non-profit organizations.

Last year, Quicken Loans donated more than $1 million to 250 non-profits and charitable organizations throughout southeast Michigan and northeast Ohio. Over the past five years, Quicken Loans has partnered with and contributed more than $5.1 million to 513 different charities.

In 2009, Quicken Loans organized 30 volunteer events in which team members logged 1,764 volunteer hours. To date, in 2010, Quicken Loans team members have participated in 50 events and have logged more than 1,800 volunteer hours.

The honor culminates a month of achievements for the Detroit-based mortgage lender, including being voted the #1 place to work in southeast Michigan by the Detroit Free Press and celebrating the closing of its one-millionth loan.

“Our family of team members is stronger than ever,” said Kemp. “Whether you’ve been working here for five months or 15 years, everyone has the drive better their community.”

Past winners of the Outstanding Corporation Award include Charter One Bank, Fifth Third Bank, Toyota USA Foundation, and General Motors Corporation.

As part of the Community DIFF team at Quicken Loans, I have the opportunity to spend time with many passionate, caring team members, who enjoy investing in their communities and making a difference. Not only are our team members quick to sign-up to volunteer for an event, they often proactively reach out to me , asking to find an event for them to participate in.

I recently had the pleasure of setting up a volunteer event for a team of our Mortgage Bankers. Jason Pace, Senior Director of Mortgage Banking reached out and said that his team of 17 bankers were anxious to get out and so some physically demanding work that would make a difference.

Physically demanding? Not a problem! I hooked the team up with our friend Patrick Crouch at Capuchin Earthworks Urban in Detroit. Patrick had just the task for our team –building a greenhouse! According to Patrick, “That afternoon, a truly motivated group from Quicken Loans drove all the ground posts on the south side of the hoop house (that’s garden talk for greenhouse), put all the bows together on the north side, and preapproved me for a mortgage.”

Earthworks Urban Farm is working toward building a food system through education, inspiration and community development. I am not sure that our Quicken Loans team of Bankers knew exactly what they were in for when they traded their headsets for working gloves on that beautiful Fall day, but I know they were eager to be a part of such a worthwhile organization.

According to Jason Popov, President’s Club Banker, “It’s refreshing to appreciate what hard work really is and to give back to the community that has given so much.”

Thank you to Jason and his team for your passion and hard work at Earthworks Urban Farm. For more information about Earthworks Urban Farm, visit www.cskdetroit.org/ewg.

There is nothing like smiling faces and a warm breakfast on a cold and rainy morning to help you start your day off right. That’s exactly what our team of Quicken Loans volunteers experienced recently, while preparing and serving breakfast and getting in to the spirit of Fall by decorating the foyer and dining room at Ronald McDonald House in Detroit.

At the Ronald McDonald House, families with hospitalized children are offered the comforts of home during stressful and uncertain times. The Detroit house accommodates more than 1,000 families each year.

Guests were treated to a breakfast buffet which included pancakes, sausage, warm fruit cobbler, French toast, a cheese tray and bagels.

 It’s hard to tell whether the Ronald McDonald House guests or the Quicken Loans volunteers were more grateful for the breakfast experience. Thank you Ronald McDonald House for making our team feel at “home!”

For more information on the Ronald McDonald House of Detroit, please visit http://www.rmhc-detroit.org/

The Community DIFF team would like to say a big, heartfelt “thank you” to Garden Fresh Gourmet of Ferndale, for their generous donation of chips; salsa, hummus and spinach dip for our recent Nacho Day fundraiser.

Because of Garden Fresh Gourmet and the hard work of our amazing Marketing Team, we were able to donate over $700 to the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Association.

Team members throughout our Detroit office lined up, anxiously piling their plates high with nachos and all the fixings, knowing all proceeds donated would benefit this worthy cause.

Thanks Garden Fresh! We love your products and appreciate your willingness to help us make a difference in the fight against ALS.

In 2009, President Obama officially declared September 11^th a National Day of Service and Remembrance, urging U.S. citizens to participate in community service in honor of those lives our nation lost that fateful day. 

This past September 11^th, Quicken Loans team members did just that by preparing and serving lunch at the Grace Center of Hope in Pontiac, Michigan. Grace Centers of Hope is a faith-based outreach center for homeless and disadvantaged individuals and families.  They provide a full recovery and rehabilitation campus for homeless men, women and children who have suffered abuse or addiction problems. 

The Grace Center of Hope is a perfect place to volunteer.  There are many opportunities  for team members and their families to jump in and assist with such as helping in the kitchen, sorting and organizing food items in the pantry, office services and maintenance projects. We guarantee that you will walk away feeling that you have really made a difference.  

Our day of service ended with a tour where we learned about all of the services offered, the people that are helped every day and the positive results of spending just a few hours of our time to help others in need. 

For more information, visit www.gracecentersofhope.org 

Our sister company Title Source recently stepped up in a big way to raise money to support Ennis Center for Children of Flint which provides services to children who have experienced abuse or neglect.

Title Source team members originally set a goal to raise $3,000, but knocked that goal out of the park, coming in at just over $5,600. Passionate team members conducted several company-wide fundraising events including an ice cream social, coin wars, bake sales, and a grand finale which included a dunk tank. They also donated over 50 pieces of new children’s clothing to the center.

According to Colleen Ramsey, Assistant Vice President at Title Source, “Knowing you are making a difference in the lives of these children is unparalleled. The smiles on their faces and the kindness they showed to one another at the picnic were infectious. The memory will stay with me for a long time.”

 Congratulations Title Source for making a difference in the lives of the children at Ennis Center. For more information regarding the services at Ennis Center, please visit http://www.enniscenter.org/

Quicken Loans team member Ron Wojnar decided to get shaved to help raise money and awareness about lung cancer, a disease that his mother-in-law is currently fighting.

Fellow team member Janet Walker stepped in by bidding $125 for Ron to get his head and face shaved last Friday. Thank you to Ron and Janet for your dedication and compassion in helping Karmanos Cancer Institute with research.

If you ask Ron why he did this, he will tell you it was for his mom. Way to go Ron. You are the DIFF!

By Veronica Floyd

Quicken Loans teamed up with JA Finance Park to help Ushers Camp New Look understand financial literacy. The aim of the camp is to assist young people in becoming future entertainment moguls and entrepreneurs who have heightened awareness of social responsibility.

On Wednesday, August 11, 2010 a group of 25 talented students went through a hands on program to help prepare them for the real world through budgeting and personal financial planning. Upon entering JA Finance Park each student was given an ATM card with a unique life situation attached. Students were assigned an age, marital status, number of children (if any), employment and income. Students determined how much of their income was available to them each month after taxes. Based on their lifestyles and net monthly incomes, students made financial decisions as they visited different stations that exemplified diverse spending avenues. Students visited stations like Allstate for car insurance, Chevrolet for automobile purchases, and Somerset Collection for clothing options. They used stations like these to create and balance their personal budgets. Students soon became conscious that choices and compromises are key concepts for living within one’s means.

Quicken Loans and JA Finance Park is proud to help provide Detroit’s youth with a strong foundation for making intelligent, lifelong, personal financial decisions. Congratulations Ushers Camp New Look and we look forward to working with you again!

By Veronica Floyd

On Thursday, July 29, 2010 the weather was perfect for a cookout. From 11 am to 2 pm, The Quicken Loans Security Defenders team held their 2nd Annual Summer Cookout to benefit ALS.

The Security team took to the grill to cook dogs at the Livonia office to feed hungry team members. There was a line that wrapped around the parking lot, but who can resist a great lunch deal that benefits a good cause. With each donation a team member received a freshly grilled 1/4lb hot dog, chips, a cookie and a beverage. Wow! Now that’s a value meal. For an additional donation team members could get into a drawing for an autographed Shaquille O’Neal basketball and jersey.

Walt Wiessner, Vice President of Security, shared a few words on why he loved organizing the cookout “We all know it’s going towards a good cause. It makes it easier to work when you know where the money is going and that people are going to benefit from it.”

Last year’s summer cookout raised $2534.32 and this year the team raised over $3,200 to benefit ALSA! Thank you MGM for donating the delicious hot dogs and buns. A special thanks to the Security Team for grilling my hot dog just right and for another successful ALSA Fundraiser!

The Quicken Loans Community DIFF team recently had the opportunity to dig in at the Capuchin Earthworks Urban Farm in Detroit, to make a difference in their community, and came away with a much better understanding of what it means to be a part of a movement for food sovereignty. Food sovereignty is the people’s democratic control of the food system, the right of all people to healthy, culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems.

At Earthworks Urban Farm, team members spent a hot Saturday morning harvesting vegetables including pea pods, potatoes and garlic, as well as cultivating, weeding and spreading mulch. This was not just a morning of hard work, getting dirty and team building. It was also a lesson in the great work being done through Earthworks Urban Farm to build a just, beautiful food system through education, inspiration, and community development.

At the end of our shift, it was easy to see that all of the Community DIFF volunteers left inspired enlightened and humbled to be a small part of such an important cause. Many of the volunteers purchased some of the vegetables they harvested, as well as fresh jam for a small fee. My family and I loved cooking and eating the fresh food from the garden we had just worked in all morning. It was a perfect way to end a wonderful afternoon.

Quicken Loans and its family of companies congratulates the great work that the Capuchin Earthworks Urban Farm does and all of their efforts and looks forward to returning in the near future. For more information on volunteering at Earthworks Urban Farm, visit: www.cskdetroit.org/ewg.