Florida Apartment Industry Meets the Charity Challenge

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  For the 26th consecutive year, volunteers from the apartment, restaurant and hospitality industry met in fierce contest on water, sand and grass to fight for dominance. Whether in basketball shooting, tug-of-war, canoeing, obstacle course or inflatable raft racing, under a blazing sun, members spent a long day in Orlando’s Citrus Bowl vying to win. Yet the real winners, as always, are dozens of charities throughout the central Florida area who get the proceeds of each team’s choice.

         What began in the backyard of former Senator Lee Constantine has grown to an event drawing more than 10,000 participants. A great many of these are apartment management companies, communities and industry suppliers who want to show their commitment to doing good works for the underprivileged, sick and damaged, while having fun in the process.

         This year, defending champion Vacation Club held on to its title, barely beating out top challenger Boardwalk from Walt Disney World in a tie-breaker. Among apartment-industry competitors, CORT finished seventh, MyRentComps/Lake Lawsona (Mark Smith’s team) finished ninth, Absolutely Amazing Refinishing finished eleventh and Valet Waste/BARS finished thirteenth.

         FAA’s Product Service Council, led by Melisa Richie of For Rent, Reuben Parker of Roto-Rooter and Shad Bookout of CORT put together a team and had a wonderful time, while barely avoiding sunstroke. Teammates included Jennifer Mayforth and Amanda Smith of For Rent, Amanda’s boyfriend Dan Webber, Christina Knight of C&N Renovation, Doug Mills of Ameriscape and TCAA President Ellen Peterson of Lake East Apartments. For Rent and Appliance Warehouse sponsored the FAA PSC team, providing tee shirts, a tent and drinks.

         "It was, as always, bloody hot," Melisa said. "I nominated myself the team captain so I didn’t have to compete. But we had a great time anyway, starting with carrying the FAA banner in the opening parade. We even won our first tug-of-war match, though we lost our second. The whole event is colorful and exciting, with constant activity among so many teams. AAGO is still collecting money from their teams, but so far they've earned $9,000 for charitable efforts.

         Absolutely Amazing Refinishing came over from Tampa for the second consecutive year and had a great time. David Jurek’s son Michael led the group of 15 participants.

         "We had our tent and an open area next to it for people to hang out," Michael said. "We felt we did really well. We got into the top four in volleyball even though only three of us had ever played together and made the top 5 in tug-of-war and in the finals in canoeing. But we had to leave at 5:00 and the canoeing final was at 7:00, so we had to forfeit that one. It’s so hot and by the end of the day everyone is pooped. It was a great experience, though."

         The Tampa Bay Area was also represented with the Valet Waste/BARS (Bay Area Resource Services) team, led by Markus Gierschner and Joe Jefferson.

         "This was our highest finish in the four or five years we’ve participated," Markus said. "And the first time we took part in every event. We wore our team tee shirts proudly and marched in the opening parade.

         "It’s great to see some Bay Area teams split off from the original group. Absolutely Amazing formed a team, as did Milestone, and Ameriscape plans to do so next year. I know that last year, the apartment teams came together under the AAGO umbrella and we received several thousand dollars to distribute to charity. Our company operates all over Florida so we were happy with that. Lori Krull, Greystar and I are very into having athletic events to benefit charities, so we hope to get more people involved next year," he said.