'Aces For Homes' Success Story Continues into 2008

After the phenomenal success of the "Aces for Homes" initiative last year, 2008 has started with a bang, with 1,052 aces being fired down in the opening five tournaments of the season. A staggering €104,220 was raised through the scheme for the international housing charity, Habitat for Humanity in 2007 and judging by the impressive serving performances on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour this January the sum could well be bettered this time around.
 
The initial "Aces for Homes" campaign ran from June 2005 to November 2006. It was such a success that the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour and Whirlpool, the Tour's premier European partner, decided to relaunch it last February at the Open Gaz de France in Paris, €10 was pledged for every ace struck throughout the 2007 season, finishing at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid, to help raise funds for the Habitat for Humanity "Women Build" programme 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 to various Habitat for Humanity schemes now exceeds €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 last 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 Builds program is designed to not only provide housing to families in need, but also to empower women."
 
The 'Women Build' programme addresses the lack of affordable housing, an issue which disproportionately affects women and children. The 'Women Build' programme 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.
 
"The players were thrilled to hear that Whirlpool and the Tour would continue with the 'Aces for Homes' scheme," said Ana Ivanovic, who possesses one of the most feared serves on Tour. "Serving an ace is very exciting; it really gets the adrenalin pumping and to know that each one raises money for Habitat for Humanity makes it feel all the more special." Ivanovic went on to rack up a huge number of aces in 2008, contributing over €2,500 herself to this fantastic cause. Last year, Wimbledon also saw serving at its most precise and accurate, and subsequently the tournament accumulated the highest number of aces from any one event, with 727.
 
Last April, one of these 'Women Build' in Poland had a very special 'builder' when the 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 has 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 last year's Aces for Homes programme was 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 partner of Habitat for Humanity. It has supported the charity for nine years and introduced its partnership to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, which has been met with great enthusiasm from the players.