THE PARSONS FOUNDATION GIVES $5MM TO FIGHT HIV/AIDS
Southwest Center to Build Parsons Foundation Center for Health, Education & Wellness
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (May 14, 2012) - The Parsons Foundation is making a multi-million dollar contribution to help men, women and children battling HIV/AIDS in Arizona. The Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS announced a combined donation of $5 million from the founders of The Parsons Foundation , Renee and Bob Parsons.
The money will be used to create the Parsons Foundation Center for Health, Education and Wellness in downtown Phoenix.
Bob Parsons may be best-known as the founder of GoDaddy.com , the world's largest provider of Web hosting , domain names and new SSL Certificates . Parsons is now Go Daddy's Executive Chairman, having stepped down as Go Daddy's CEO last December. He's also now CEO of Arizona's largest motorcycle dealership, GoAZ Motorcycles .
Parsons and Go Daddy have a history with the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS dating back to 2010 when Go Daddy donated $500,000 to the organization during its annual holiday party extravaganza. Renee and Bob Parsons presented the check themselves and have since created their own charity organization.
"My wife Renee and I created The Parsons Foundation to help others, to make a difference with those less fortunate," Bob Parsons said.
$3.5 million goes to build the center and provide support for prevention, wellness, community outreach and testing programs. The other $1.5 million is part of an incentive donation. Renee and Bob are challenging and inspiring others to donate, by vowing to match other donations up to an additional $1.5 million. The money raised from the incentive donation will help with interior and exterior renovations that will include community spaces and an art gallery.
"Bob and I hope others will be inspired to help the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS," Renee Parsons said. "This center is a first of its kind because it brings domestic violence counseling and other emotional support together with medical aid all under one roof. Patients at our new center are going to get some of the best care available anywhere in the U.S."
More than 14 thousand men, women and children have AIDS or are HIV infected in Arizona, a disease that impacts nearly 4 million people around the world.
The Parsons Foundation Center for Health, Education and Wellness is being created at 1101 N. Central Ave., in the building that formerly housed the Phoenix NBC TV affiliate, KPNX. The new facility is expected to be completed by the end of 2012 and will include a comprehensive medical center, mental health counseling rooms, as well as classrooms where community-based health workshops and support groups will meet needs of men, women, youth and families.
"This full-service center is such a critical piece of our work - especially for those in our community who do not have access to integrated healthcare and educational support programs. Bob and Renee's generous donation is so inspiring because it means the difference between opening soon and opening sometime next year," said Carol Poore, President and CEO, Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS. "Five million dollars is more than we've ever received from a single donor ... when Bob says they want to make a difference, he really means it."
The Parsons Foundation donation was formally announced at the 17 th Annual Night for Life Gala held Saturday. In addition to the Parsons' $5 million donation, nearly $300,000 was raised at the event and will be used to cover the costs of day-to-day operations.
About The Parsons Foundation:
The Parsons Foundation inspires hope by providing critical funding at critical times to communities striving to make a difference. We primarily focus on children's issues in the greater Phoenix area. We believe every child is entitled to an education, good nutrition, medical care, a stress free happy environment and the hope that they too, will share in the American Dream. We provide funding to non-profit organizations that are successfully addressing these essential needs. The Parsons Foundation is also committed to the children of Haiti, helping to grow and improve schools, medical services and overall well-being for communities in rural Haiti through the organization, Hope for Haiti.
About Go Daddy:
Go Daddy is the world's largest domain name provider, Web hosting provider and new SSL provider, focused on helping small businesses grow larger. Go Daddy provides dozens of cloud-based services and is the largest worldwide mass-market hosting provider by annual revenue according to Tier1 Research (Mass-Market Hosting Report-Winter 2011) and is the #1 provider of net-new SSL certificates for 2011 , according to the Netcraft, LTD Secure Server Survey. To learn more about the company, visit www.GoDaddy.com/PR .
Contact:
Elizabeth L. Driscoll/V.P. Public Relations
480-505-8878
PR@GoDaddy.com
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