Bridgestone Firestone Original Equipment Team Volunteers To Help Build Habitat Home In Detroit Area
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (June 20, 2005) - Volunteers with the Bridgestone Firestone Original Equipment (OE) team in Detroit are putting their hearts into community service and their hands to work to help a Detroit-area family achieve its dream of owning a home. The OE team is proud to be partnering with Habitat for Humanity of Oakland County to build the new home for this year’s 2005 Jimmy Carter Work Project.
Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC (BFNT) will contribute $10,000 toward building a 1,200 square feet single-story, ranch-style home. In addition, teammates from BFNT’s OE team will volunteer along with the future homeowners to help build the home, which is one of nine slated to be built by Habitat for Humanity of Oakland County in a two-week period this June.
“We’re proud to work with Habitat for Humanity to increase homeownership opportunities for minority and low- to moderate-income families in the Oakland County region,” said Michael Martini, president, OE consumer tire division, BFNT. “Bridgestone Firestone is committed to investing in our local communities. We believe that helping empower local families and enriching local neighborhoods will make the community a better place to live and work,” Martini added.
"We are extremely grateful for Bridgestone Firestone’s generosity," said Steve Campbell, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Oakland County. “Bridgestone Firestone is a tremendous partner for Habitat, and its contribution is another example of the company’s strong commitment to giving back to the communities in which it works,” Campbell concluded.
Bridgestone Firestone has partnered with Habitat for Humanity to build several homes for deserving families. This is the second home the OE team has helped build in the Detroit area. In 2004 and 2005, more than 200 company volunteers teamed up to build two Habitat homes for families in a neighborhood near the Bridgestone Americas corporate headquarters in Nashville, Tenn. As part of the Centennial Celebration marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, volunteers from the Bridgestone Firestone Akron Technical Center (ATC) built a two-story Habitat home in Akron, Ohio’s Firestone Park area. This year, volunteers from the ATC in Akron are building a playhouse for the “Parade of Playhouses,” a major fundraiser for Habitat of Summit County, Ohio.
About Habitat for Humanity:
Habitat for Humanity International is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry. HFHI seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness, inviting people of all backgrounds, races and religions to build houses together in partnership with families in need. Habitat has built more than 175,000 houses around the world, providing more than 750,000 people in more than 3,000 communities with safe, decent, affordable shelter. HFHI was founded in 1976 by Millard Fuller along with his wife Linda.
About Jimmy Carter Work Project:
Habitat for Humanity International’s Jimmy Carter Work Project is an annual, internationally recognized event in which the former U.S. president and his wife, Rosalynn, join Habitat volunteers to build simple, decent and affordable houses in partnership with people in need. President Carter’s longstanding relationship with Habitat for Humanity began in 1984 when he donated one day of his carpentry skills and manual labor at a work site in Americus, Ga., home to Habitat’s international headquarters. Later that same year, the Carters led their first weeklong work project, renovating a six-story, 19-unit building in New York City.
About Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC:
Nashville-based Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC is a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc., whose parent company, Bridgestone Corporation, is the world's largest tire and rubber company. BFNT develops, manufactures and markets Bridgestone, Firestone and associate and private brand tires. The company is focused on wholesale and original equipment markets, supplying passenger, light truck, commercial vehicle, off-road, motorcycle, agricultural and other tires to its customers in North America.