Community Involvement

DDR partners with United Way on the company’s biggest charitable effort of the year. The company organizes a variety of exciting fundraising events and also solicits donations from employees. The company also makes an effort to educate employees on all of the ways that United Way makes a difference in our communities. Events have included: a dunk tank, a cornhole tournament, a cooking competition (“Soup Sensations”), Casino Night, and an online auction. The company and its employees contribute thousands of dollars annually to United Way through this effort.

Walk MS a major fundraising event for the National MS Society that DDR employees participate in on an annual basis. The two-mile walk through downtown Cleveland starts and ends at the Cleveland Browns Stadium.

Queen for a Day was an event held at the Aspen Grove Lifestyle Center in Littleton, Colorado. The center participated in the “Family and Elders” Program run by the Bessie’s Hope Charity in which residents of area elder care facilities are adopted for the day and given an opportunity to participate in a variety of fun activities. The attendee enjoyed a free lunch, received a new outfit and also visited the center’s farmer’s market.

The Teddy Bear Project was an event held at Paul Bunyan Mall in Bemidji, Minnesota that involved hosting a teddy bear drive for their community. The teddy bears were donated to local agencies that worked directly with children in need. A total of 1,200 bears were collected, far exceeding the original goal of 500. The Beltrami County Child Abuse Council received the donated bears.

Birkdale Village in Huntersville, NC hosts an annual 4th of July event in which thousands of area residents participate. A parade, food, games, and other family-friendly activities are all part of the festival.

The Giving Children Hope program at Buena Park Downtown in Buena Park, California was a food drive for local families in which the center solicited a local radio station and popular teen idol, Jason Derülo, and scheduled a benefit concert where food donations were the price of admission. The center collected 8,000 pounds of food, exceeding the charity’s collection goal by over 500 percent. The Giving Children Hope charity used the food for its nutrition program in Orange County, California in which homeless students are provided with backpacks to take food home on the weekends. DDR earned the 2011 International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Foundation Albert Sussman “Best of the Best” award for the Giving Children Hope program at RECon 2011. DDR previously earned the Western Region and the Overall U.S. awards for this project, which resulted in two donations of $5,000 from the ICSC foundation to the Giving Children Hope charity in Buena Park. Winning the “Best of the Best” award meant an additional $10,000 donation to the charity. The Albert Sussman International Community Support Award was developed to recognize a shopping center or shopping center company for coordinating outstanding humanitarian service in its community.

DDR sponsors a bike team for this major National MS Society fundraising event. 2010’s fundraising efforts resulted in over $23,000 for MS research.

The Cleveland Corporate Challenge is an athletic competition promoting camaraderie, wellness and networking while also helping local charities. Each participating company makes a donation to the charity of their choice.

DDR hosts the Red Cross at our headquarters and encourages employees to donate blood.

Race for the Place an annual 5K or 1-mile race event at Beachwood Mall hosted by the Gathering Place, a cancer support community.

DDR employees participate in this annual event which benefits the Diversity Center’s School and Youth initiatives in nine northeast Ohio counties.

The Cleveland Food Bank’s annual food and funds drive. DDR employees contribute to this fundraiser and have their contributions matched.

DDR partners with the Cleveland Cavaliers to recognize teachers in Cuyahoga County for making a difference in their students’ lives. The Cavaliers mascot Moondog and Cavaliers “Hype Man” Ahmaad Crump make a surprise visit to each winning teacher’s school to present him or her with a super-sized ticket to a Cavaliers game. Winning teachers also receive two tickets to a pre-selected Cavaliers home game, dinner for two at Bridges Restaurant and special in-game recognition.

Tackle the Tower an annual stair climb fundraiser event in downtown Cleveland. Proceeds go to the Ronald McDonald House of Cleveland.