Winners announced for the Super Service Challenge New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 31, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Super Service Challenge is now complete and was a spectacular success at encouraging companies and organizations to spread the heart of service New Orleans is famous for. As a result, over 2,000 people served local nonprofits and more than 250 teams entered their service in the Super Service Challenge.  Winning teams were announced by Drew Brees in New Orleans today.  Brittany and Drew Brees and their Brees Dream Foundation partnered with Companies With A Mission to give away $1,000,000 to New Orleans charities in a challenge to serve during the months leading up to the Super Bowl. The following five winning teams were awarded $25,000 for their partner charities. Companies With A Mission (CWAM), who partnered with The Brees Dream Foundation in the Challenge, shared details about the winning teams and their projects (Alphabetical): 

• Organization/Charity Name: Agnus Dei Homeschool Association /Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana
  • Project description: Our team sorted and packed food items for distribution to those in need in the Greater New Orleans Area and throughout south Louisiana. Indirectly, we fed individuals in the 23 parishes served by Second Harvest Food Bank.
• Organization /Charity Name: Akrom, Inc./National Alliance on Mental Illness, NAMI
  • Project description: Team Akrom volunteered to serve three events in the last three months. The first event was the Third Annual NAMI WALK. The second and third events were two Christmas parties (Orleans and Jefferson Parish) attended by 100 NAMI consumers with mental illness, their family members, and friends
• Organization /Charity Name: Cintas/Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater New Orleans
  • Project description: We served the Ronald McDonald House by cleaning and painting the interior trim of the entire house.
• Organization /Charity Name: Junior Achievement/Team Gleason
  • Project description:  Along with our JA BizTown students, our staff created holiday cards for Team Gleason to mail to their supporters and others with ALS. Through fun and play, our students learned about philanthropy and community service while also learning about ALS and its research needs.
• Organization/Charity Name: St. Paul's Episcopal School/St. Paul's Homecoming Center
  • Project description: Parents, faculty, and staff of St. Paul's Episcopal School have been donating toys to help the St. Paul's Homecoming Center fill an entire 18 wheeler with toys and items for families living in Braithwaite and on the East Coast. 

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130131/DA50598)

An additional 10 charities are being awarded $20,000 each, 15 more are being awarded $10,000 each, 25 are receiving $5,000 donations, and over a hundred teams will be awarded $2,000.

Organizations formed teams who each identified a deserving charity and then conducted community service benefiting that charity. More than 250 teams from the New Orleans area and around the country participated.

A panel of local community and celebrity judges then reviewed the entries and selected the winning entries. Prizes from $2,000 to $25,000 will be awarded to the charities of the winning teams. Judging criteria was based on:

• how the charity was served,
• how the workplace team would serve the charity going forward, and
• how the charity would utilize the prize money if that team was selected as a winner of the service challenge.

"Brittany and I are thrilled with the success of the Super Service Challenge," said Brees, "We know the funds being awarded today are critical to these organizations, but long term, it's the relationships and the passion to continue to serve that will be the sustaining legacy of the Challenge."

"The Challenge was designed to encourage teamwork and a greater purpose to work while also changing lives in the community," said CWAM Executive Director, Mitch Davis. "The people of New Orleans and so many leaders here like Brittany and Drew made this challenge a great success for all of us to experience.

CWAM and the Brees Dream Foundation will also be honoring the Challenge again Friday morning at the Athletes in Action Super Bowl Breakfast as well as at the Super Saturday of Service the day before the big game.

The winning charities will be receiving their prize donations in the weeks ahead. For a complete list and description of each winning project, or to learn more about the Super Service Challenge or the Brees Dream Foundation, visit www.superservicechallenge.com or www.drewbrees.com

About Brees Dream Foundation
The Brees Dream Foundation, founded in 2003, improves the quality of life for cancer patients and provides care, education and opportunities for children and families in need. Brittany and Drew Brees and the Brees Dream Foundation have collectively committed and/or contributed more than $17,000,000 to charitable causes and academic institutions..

About Companies With A Mission
Companies With A Mission was founded to inspire a greater purpose in business that changes the way we view work and encourages a heart of service to the world around us. We want to inspire this movement by providing opportunities that add significance to the work we do each day.

SOURCE Companies With A Mission