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“Volunteers renovating 30 Arlington homes in lead-up to Super Bowl”

Jan 18, 2011 – Fort Worth Star-Telegram

http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/01/17/2774921/volunteers-renovating-30-arlington.html

By Robert Cadwallader

ARLINGTON — Yolanda Alcorta listened to the thumping and scraping on the exterior walls of her aging home and to the murmuring of a growing crowd in her yard.

She couldn’t help smiling.

Her house was in the midst of a maintenance makeover at the hands of some of the 300 volunteers who created a bustling scene Monday on Drummond Drive in Arlington, the two-block beneficiary of a venture to improve the properties of low-income homeowners.

“They’ve got a good heart,” said Alcorta, who can’t work because of a back injury. “I see all those people, and I can’t believe it. God bless every one of ‘em.”

The nonprofit Rebuilding Together, teaming with the National Football League for the 16th year to renovate a neighborhood in the Super Bowl host city, selected 30 homes on Drummond for work.

A dozen homes will get major renovations, such as foundation and floor repair, drywall replacement, re-roofing and painting; 18 will be weatherized and get other energy-saving improvements. Officials hope to provide a little something for the remaining 15 or so homes, like landscaping or trash removal.

Also, the project will donate and install playground equipment for nearby Speer Elementary School, where 98 percent of the students qualify for federal meal programs.

“This is one of the most impoverished areas in Arlington,” said Jill Lucien, a board member of Rebuilding

Together Greater Dallas, the chapter that is overseeing the project. “We’re trying to bring attention to the struggles that low-income homeowners face every day.”

The volunteers were supplied by the Dallas Lutheran School, Allstate and Atmos Energy, and included contractors and other skilled construction workers.

The project concludes Feb. 3 with final touch-ups and a block party for residents and volunteers.

Alcorta’s was one of the 12 high-priority homes. Workers removed a rotted back deck and prepared to replace it and add a ramp and rails. They also planned to add grab bars in the shower and a grocery cabinet so she doesn’t have to bend as she does now to reach under the kitchen counter.

And they painted the exterior trim — which included a surprise for her.

Todd Yount, the “house captain” in charge of organizing her home’s improvements, stuck his head in the door to deliver the news.

“Yolanda!” he called out. “Tony Dorsett is about to put some paint on your house. You want to come see?”

The Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame running back dropped by about noon at the corner of Drummond and West Cedar Street, prompting most of the volunteers to peel away from their tasks for a few minutes.

Dorsett praised their work and called the timing special because the first day of the major volunteer turnout coincided with the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

“Martin Luther King obviously was a man who believed in people working together and trying to live together,” said Dorsett, who is chairman of the volunteer outreach program of the Super Bowl Host Committee. “We see so many different people out here together, working together trying to uplift this community.”

He also insisted on being provided a hammer or a paintbrush to use for a few minutes, “so I can say, ‘Yeah, I did some of that.’”

Dorsett spent several minutes carefully dabbing white paint onto window trim on Alcorta’s house, then posed for photos with her and others.

It was a good day for volunteer Drew Mills, an 18-year-old Lutheran School senior, an Eagle Scout and a veteran of community service.

“We’re getting out in the community, helping others and raising the quality of life around Dallas,” he said. “And it’s cool to see Tony Dorsett.”

“Local charities and nonprofits benefit from ties to NFL”

Feb 3, 2011 – The Dallas Morning News

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/super-bowl/local/20110201-local-charities-and-nonprofits-benefit-from-ties-to-nfl.ece

By Erinn Connor

While most North Texans are waiting for Super Bowl Sunday to come around, charities and nonprofits are hoping to harness the hype surrounding the big game before kickoff to raise money and awareness for their causes.

Local and national organizations are holding NFL-sanctioned events and fundraisers before Super Bowl XLV, many with the help of NFL players and celebrities.

“I think the NFL has realized that there needs to be more that goes on than just a ballgame and parties,” said Maj. Ward Matthews, chief executive officer of the Dallas-Fort Worth Salvation Army. “There needs to be a lasting impact on the community, something it’ll be able to point to long after the game has ended.”

Although only a handful of events get the NFL stamp of approval, many charities and nonprofits are benefiting from the big game. Being sanctioned by the NFL entitles the organization to use the Super Bowl logo in promotions, which in turn leads to bigger sponsors and funds that otherwise wouldn’t be available.

“We’re still in a competitive environment as nonprofit industries,” said Gary Officer, CEO of Rebuilding Together, which works to preserve affordable housing. “Dollars remain scarce. When you have the NFL at the table, it does position you competitively.”

A lot of events at the Super Bowl, including celebrity bowling and golf outings and the Taste of the NFL, benefit NFL Charities. The nonprofit was created by the 32 NFL teams to enable them to collectively make grants to charitable and worthwhile causes on a national scale. Since it was founded, NFL Charities has granted more than $120 million to more than 640 organizations.

Here are some of what local nonprofits affiliated with the Super Bowl are doing to cash in on the big game and raise money for causes from hunger to youth education to homelessness:

Rebuilding Together

A few miles from Cowboys Stadium, residents of Drummond Drive are seeing their homes transformed by hundreds of volunteers and NFL celebrities. Through national non-profit Rebuilding Together, Arlington homeowners received free home renovations as part of their 16th Kickoff to Rebuild program.

The organization teams up with local and national sponsors to help renovate a neighborhood in the Super Bowl host city. Rebuilding Together does about 10,000 home renovations a year.

Patricia Goerdel, who has lived on Drummond Drive for 17 years, said the work being done to her home is “an absolute blessing.”

Workers repaired cracks in Goerdel’s foundation as well as driveway repairs and landscaping. Renovations on the homes will be completed Thursday.

“We’re used to being self-sufficient,” said Goerdel, 68. “But sometimes it’s nice to know somebody cares.”

Speer Elementary School, across from Drummond Drive, is also getting a new playground with the help of HGTV star Carter Oosterhouse and his charity , Carter’s Kids.