Making a Difference

Mollie Ray Elementary was in a jam. The 2004-2005 school year was fast approaching, and its students needed backpacks. Not just any backpacks, mind you, but clear plastic, see-through backpacks mandated by Orlando" target="_blank">Orange County Public Schools as a security measure to help officials monitor what students were bringing with them to class.

At most other schools, it would be a simple matter for parents to add the $10-15 cost of the backpack to the supply list. But Mollie Ray draws from some of the poorest neighborhoods in Orlando" target="_blank">Orange County. Indeed, more than 90 percent of its students qualify for the federal free lunch program.

"We knew that buying those backpacks would create a real hardship on our families," says Mollie Ray principal Joy Taylor. "Lucky for us, we knew exactly who to turn to for help."

As it had so many times in the past, the Mid-Florida Home Builders Foundation stepped in as guardian angel for the hard-pressed elementary school, which has become the organization's most high-profile beneficiary in recent years. The foundation bought all the backpacks the school needed and members of the Home Builders Association of Metro Orlando were on hand to pass them out the first day of classes.

"That's our mission," says foundation chairperson Lee Holt, president of Solar-Tite. "We're all about helping kids and supporting education."

The Mid-Florida Home Builders Foundation, a 501c-3 charitable organization, was created in 1985. Since that time, it has donated more than $1 million to dozens of local charities and schools. It has also funded scholarships at the University of Central Florida and Valencia Community College earmarked for students interested in pursuing careers in fields related to home building.

Membership in the HBA, currently at about 1,250, automatically brings membership in the foundation.

"It's easy for a group like ours to just say that we're passionate about improving our community while we're reaping obvious benefits from the community's growth," says former foundation chairperson and longtime board member Tony Martin, vice president of Paragon South. "But the foundation puts some real muscle behind those words. We're passionate about building homes, but we are also passionate about helping children and making life better."

It was Martin who devised one of the foundation's most effective fund-raising strategies-one he readily admits swiping from the Greater Orlando Chamber of Commerce.

When the chamber needed to renovate its offices several years ago, one of the ways it funded the project was by tacking a 99-cent "surcharge" on invoices sent to members. Now, when HBA members are billed for their participation in any association activity, they receive the usual invoice plus 99 cents, with the overage earmarked for the foundation.

"It's a painless way to insure that everyone gives a little something," says Martin. "And just doing something small like that raised close to $26,000 last year."

Although the foundation also holds charity golf tournaments and silent auctions, most of its money is raised through a "Dream House to Help the Children" project, which is held every other year.

Working with a builder partner, the foundation constructs a luxury home largely using donated materials and labor. Proceeds from the sale of the home are split between the foundation and a beneficiary of its choice.

Originally called the "Miracle House" project, the effort has supplied major support over the past decade to such organizations as the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and Women, the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida, the Orlando" target="_blank">Orange County Children's Safety Village and the Adam Walsh Children's Fund.

In 2003, the foundation teamed with US Home, Lennar Homes and other sponsors to build a 3,800-square-foot home in the east Orlando golf community of Stoneybrook. The project netted a $100,000 donation to the Foundation for Orlando" target="_blank">Orange County Public Schools, which in turn funded two early-childhood reading programs.

The impact of the donation was amplified when Orlando-based Harcourt Trade Publishers offered matching funds. The happy result: 108 Orlando" target="_blank">Orange County schools received more than $250,000 worth of books for their programs.

"These are books that are earmarked especially for children to check out and take home to have someone read with them," says Martin. "So not only does it support the reading process, it aids the family bonding process. Foundation members were on hand to help pass out books at all the schools. It was gratifying beyond all measure."

Those on the receiving end of the foundation's largesse have endless praise for their benefactors.

"They're always there when we need them. They're just wonderful," says Gaby Acks, executive director of the Edgewood Children's Ranch. Since its founding in 1966, the Orlando-based residential facility has served more than 4,000 troubled youths. "They've given us everything from money to buy heaters for our cottages to basic repair work."

Former foundation chairperson Andy Pugh also served on the Edgewood board and helped forge the link between the groups.

"It's not just a matter of giving them money. We're also there to offer advice and guidance whenever it's needed," says Pugh, vice president of MetroWest. "In the past we've often invited children from Edgewood to attend HBA functions and events. A lot of them really need positive role models, and it's important for them to see how such organizations work and help the community."

Pugh was also instrumental in getting the foundation to partner with Jeppesen Vision Quest, a nonprofit group that provides eye exams and eyeglasses for children who might not otherwise be able to afford them.

"The results from this program have been particularly gratifying," says Pugh. "There's quite often a link between a child's inability to read and bad vision. It's a simple matter of getting them a decent pair of glasses and suddenly the light bulb goes on in their heads."

Another beneficiary, Orlando-based MicheLee Puppets, provides compelling theatrical performances for area schoolchildren, helping them cope with various challenges and offering programs on such topics as youth violence, diversity, literacy and health.

"The foundation has funded thousands of shows that have impacted thousands and thousands of children," says MicheLee Puppets founder Tracey Garver. "They have created ripples of goodwill that will be never-ending."

But the foundation's partnership with Mollie Ray Elementary provides uncommon inspiration and serves as its most profound example of philanthropy.

The organization essentially adopted the school in 2002 after it became the first Orlando" target="_blank">Orange County school to receive two consecutive F's from the state Department of Education, which reviews standardized test scores and other factors and assigns each public school a letter grade.

Students at schools saddled with two failing grades in three years are allowed to transfer elsewhere. But critics say that when the most motivated students and involved parents opt out of troubled schools instead of working to improve them, then the downward spiral can only accelerate.

Molly Ray, then, was in trouble-until the foundation stepped in.

Working through the foundation, the HBA's remodelers council provided much-needed renovations to the school, including such basics as bookcases. The foundation also helped fund numerous field trips, something the school had never been able to afford in the past.

"It's not just a matter of giving us money. The HBA members also show up in the classroom to help tutor and mentor our students," says Taylor. "You have to understand, Mollie Ray is a school that has rarely had a single volunteer in the past, and to suddenly have legions of people willing to give us a hand, well, the result has been profound."

In 2003, thanks in large part to the foundation's support, Mollie Ray improved its grade to a C. This year, the school got a B, and is aiming higher still.

Says Holt: "We aren't about to stop until we get our school an A. And even after that we'll still be right there with them."