Habitat for Humanity and JM Family Welcome Three Families to New Homes

DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. - June 25, 2014 - PRLog -- JM Family Enterprises (http://www.jmfamily.com/) recently celebrated the completion of three homes in partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Broward, bringing the total number of houses sponsored and built by the company’s associates to 27. At a dedication ceremony in the Oakland Park neighborhood, Habitat homeowners Asia Smith, Chandra Lee and Dominica Nesbitt shared stories of how this program has changed their lives.

“It’s such a blessing to have our own home and to own it,” Lee said. “Every day I walk into this house and I’m reminded, ‘This is mine.’”

The three homes were constructed to comply with the U.S. Green Building Council’s standards for high performance “green” buildings in design, construction and operations. This achievement marks the third year JM Family’s Habitat homes were awarded the highly esteemed LEED GOLD certification, an important measure towards minimizing environmental impact. Each homeowner was also surprised with a state-of-the-art, high efficiency washer and dryer, a $100 Lowe’s gift card to put towards the purchase of additional home essentials, and blankets knitted by JM Family associates.

“Today is a special day to celebrate what started off as a cement slab and has been transformed into a home,” said JM Family (http://www.jmfamily.com/) President and CEO Colin Brown. “This is one of the most important volunteer activities our associates do. It allows them to work hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder with the family members who will live here. As a company we always want to improve our community and strengthen its families, and what better way to do that then to provide these deserving families with a home?”

During the recent Habitat builds, 140 dedicated JM Family associates volunteered nearly 2,100 hours. The automotive company has remained a long-standing partner of the organization since 2002 with more than 800 associates investing in excess of 15,000 hours into home build projects throughout Broward County. Each year, associates who participate at every volunteer event are recognized with a Golden Hammer Award for their efforts. This year, 13 recipients were honored at the ceremony.

The event commemorated eight months of hard work and determination by the Habitat families and JM Family volunteers. Also in attendance at the dedication were Habitat for Humanity of Broward Board Chair and Channel 7 Executive Vice President and General Manager Bob Leider, Habitat for Humanity of Broward Executive Director Perry Ecton, and City of Oakland Park city commissioners Tim Lonergan and John Adornato III.

Click here (http://jmfamilyenterprisesinc.zenfolio.com/p845292514) to download high-resolution photos.

About JM Family Enterprises
JM Family Enterprises, Inc., founded by automotive legend Jim Moran in 1968, is a $12.5 billion diversified automotive company ranked No. 27 on Forbes’ list of “America’s Largest Private Companies.” JM Family is also ranked No. 37 by FORTUNE® as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For,” its 16^th consecutive year on the list. Primary subsidiaries include: Southeast Toyota Distributors, World Omni Financial Corp., JM&A Group, JM Lexus, and JM Service Center LLC. Headquartered in Deerfield Beach, Fla., JM Family has major U.S. operations in Jacksonville and Margate, Fla.; Commerce and Alpharetta, Ga.; Mobile, Ala. and St. Louis, Mo., in addition to offices in Mississauga, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec. Interact with JM Family at Facebook.com/JMFamilyEnterprises.

JM Family Corporate Philanthropy
JM Family Enterprises, Inc. is committed to continuing Jim Moran’s guiding philosophy of giving back to the communities where our associates live and work. By sharing time, talents and resources, we keep his spirit alive and cultivate something significant and lasting – stronger families and stronger communities. JM Family's corporate philanthropy is focused on four areas of giving – empowering families and nurturing children, providing for essential needs, promoting education and preserving our environment. Our philanthropic mission is to be a leader in corporate citizenship, and through strategic utilization of our resources, improve the quality of life in the communities in which we live and work.