HHCares exemplifies leadership and social responsibility in response to the need during the pandemic
The Howard Hughes Corporation has garnered international recognition, receiving the Communitas Award for its HHCares contributions during the pandemic, exemplifying leadership and social responsibility through its master planned communities of The Woodlands, The Woodlands Hills and Bridgeland.
The Communitas Awards is an international effort, honoring companies, organizations and individuals who are “unselfishly giving of themselves and their resources, and those who are changing how they do business to benefit their communities.” Communitas is a Latin word meaning “people coming together for the good of a community”, according to their website.
HHCares is a corporate social responsibility program, which supports philanthropic efforts in the communities. The HHCares efforts in the Houston region during 2020 included:
- Supporting over 130 causes of local charities financially and through volunteerism
- Providing nearly 1,500 meals for local hospital frontline workers
- Providing food for first responders
- Co-hosting with Woodforest National Bank a Texas National Guard Appreciation Dinner
- Team members serving on 47 non-profit boards and 29 committees or associations within our communities
- Awarding 14 annual scholarships to local high school graduating seniors
- Funding four scholarships through an endowment at Lone Star College System
- Participating in the nationwide Light it Blue campaign
“We are honored to be recognized with a Communitas Award for HHCares, our community-focused charitable initiative. We believe in giving back to our communities, where many of us live, raise our families and where our company is headquartered. Through our HHCares program, our team supports over 130 local causes within our communities here in the Houston region – The Woodlands, Bridgeland, and The Woodlands Hills. During the last year, we have particularly focused on ways to assist organizations impacted by the pandemic, and to show support to those making a difference,” said Jim Carman, President – Houston Region for Howard Hughes. “We appreciate the first responders, frontline personnel and the nonprofit organizations, which came together during the pandemic to help our community. We admire students who wish to pursue a higher education. Together, we can all make a difference and stand strong together.”
One of the ways Howard Hughes supported several local non-profits was through the Fall Giving Drive. The Fall Giving Drive, held in September 2020, raised over $90,000. For each new home sold in the award-winning communities of Bridgeland and The Woodlands Hills, Howard Hughes donated $500 on behalf of the buyer to one of the following charities selected by the new homeowner: Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Cy-Fair Educational Foundation, HomeAid Houston, Montgomery County Food Bank and YES to Youth. The charitable effort gave homebuyers the opportunity to make a positive impact in their new community.
Every builder in Bridgeland and The Woodlands Hills, as well as various Realtors, partnered with Howard Hughes and donated to the selected charities.
“We were proud to have made a significant impact for these nonprofit organizations, raising over $90,000. Especially during the pandemic, more people needed the assistance from these charities,” said Heath Melton, Executive Vice President, MPC, Residential for Howard Hughes. “It is important to give back to and support our communities, where we live, work, play, learn and discover.”
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), one of the select charities in the Fall Giving Campaign, is the world’s largest voluntary health agency dedicated to blood cancer. During 2020, Heath Melton was the #1 fundraiser in the country, raising over $258,000 for this organization. Over the past five years, Howard Hughes has helped raise over $1 million for LLS. Both Heath Melton and Jim Carman have been top fundraisers as an Executive Challenger for LLS the past three years.
For more information on HHCares, visit https://www.thewoodlands.com/community/hhcares/
