Home Lender Helps Heat Relief Effort With $150K
Retail home lender Movement Mortgage and its philanthropy arm, Movement Foundation, has donated more than 400,000 bottles of water and a $150,000 matching grant to support Phoenix Rescue Mission’s 5th Annual Code:Red Summer Heat Relief Campaign.
The donation, which is one of the largest single contributions to the Code:Red campaign since it began in 2013, was presented to Phoenix Rescue Mission yesterday during a press conference at the Mission’s donation warehouse.
“Because of Movement Mortgage’s generous gift, our staff and volunteers can continue their heat relief efforts at a time when it’s needed most,” said Phoenix Rescue Mission spokesperson Nicole Pena. “As we continue to expand our Code:Red campaign and street outreach, we couldn’t ask for a better partner to help us protect our most vulnerable populations during these hot summer months.”
Immediately following the ceremony, Movement Mortgage volunteers joined the Mission’s street outreach team to deliver the water and other heat-relief items directly to those living on the streets.
“At Movement, we believe in a simple idea: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The intense heat in Arizona has left so many of our neighbors in life-threatening circumstances, and I am so proud of our teammates in Arizona and across the Western states that stepped up with such generosity to be difference makers,” Ignacio Metcalf, Movement Mortgage national sales director, said. “We are honored to work with the Phoenix Rescue Mission and the Movement Foundation to ensure these 400,000 bottles of water and the $150,000 matching grant will bring life, light and hope to our neighbors in greatest need.”
In addition to the donated funds and water, Movement Mortgage volunteers also assembled nearly 500 Summer Survival Kits, which included t-shirts, sunblock, granola bars, hats and other heat-relief items to be handed out to the homeless during the city-wide heat-relief campaign.
The effects of climate change, including rising temperatures and unpredictable weather, continue to plague the Valley’s homeless and elderly shut-ins each summer in Arizona, causing many to die on the streets and in their homes.
