St. Jude Dream Home giveaway Oct. 12

Local new-home builder Summit Custom Homes received the Zero Hero award at the 2014 St. Jude Dream Home Builders Summit earlier this month.

The Zero Hero award is given to home builders who successfully build a home for the St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway entirely from donated labor and materials and at zero cost to the hospital. Among the 28 builders represented at this year’s event, Summit Custom Homes was one of only three recipients of the award.

“This is the third time we’ve been able to build a Dream Home at zero cost, which means we are able to give every bit of the proceeds from the giveaway to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital,” said Zalman Kohen, senior vice president and COO at Summit Custom Homes. “It’s a goal we set every year and we are thrilled to have achieved it again in 2014.”

Kohen was among a group of five representatives from Summit Custom Homes who traveled to the annual event in Memphis, Tenn., to tour St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and meet with other Dream Home builders from around the country.

“Being able to come together as builders at the summit was an honor,” said Valerie Rolfes, marketing director for Summit Custom Homes. “We were able to share ideas while observing the day-to-day operations of the hospital and seeing the incredible hope that fills the halls there.”

Since they began partnering with the St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway four years ago, Summit Custom Homes has raised over $3.5 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which relies primarily on individual contributions for its daily operations.

At St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, no child is ever denied medical care for his or her inability to pay, and it is the only pediatric cancer research center where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance.

The hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering work in finding cures that save children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. The overall survival rate for patients of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has risen from 20 percent to 80 percent since the facility opened in 1962. Researchers at the hospital have also increased the survival rate for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common childhood cancer, from 4 percent to 94 percent.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is the first and only cancer center dedicated solely to children to be designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute. By housing patient care and research under the same roof, the most gifted researchers in the world are able to advance the science of curing catastrophic childhood diseases faster than ever before. The hospital freely shares its discoveries with scientific and medical communities around the world, allowing thousands more children to be saved by its groundbreaking work.

“We’re honored to have partnered with St. Jude once again,” said Fred Delibero, president and CEO of Summit Custom Homes. “We love this project, and we love helping the families of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. This truly is a labor of love.”

The Dream Home at Chapman Farms will be featured as part of the Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City’s Fall Parade of Homes. It is located at 8808 SE 1st St., Blue Springs, in The Shores at Chapman Farms community, on the east side of Missouri 7 highway just north of Colbern Road.

“It really is a beautiful home, perfect for a family who likes to entertain,” Delibero said. “Our trade partners and sponsors were so generous. We are truly touched by their overwhelming show of support, and could not have done it without them.”

The Dream Home is open to visitors daily from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. through the end of the Parade of Homes on Sunday, Oct. 12. Just for visiting the Dream Home, you can enter a free drawing to win a $10,000 shopping spree courtesy of Crowley Furniture.

Tickets for the raffle are available now for $100, and may be purchased at the Dream Home, online at dreamhome.org, or by calling 1-800-385-9756. If you purchase a ticket by Oct. 5, you will be entered into a bonus drawing to win a $10,000 Visa gift card courtesy of North American Savings Bank. Sales will be capped at 7,500 tickets.

In addition to the grand prize Dream Home, valued at over $500,000, ticket holders will be entered into drawings for 17 additional prizes, each worth at least $1,000, including a $1,000 gift card to Cosentino’s Food Stores, one year of dry cleaning services courtesy of Mayfair Cleaners and Laundry, and pantry organization service courtesy of California Closets.

The team at Summit Custom Homes invites you to join them for a free block party at the Dream Home at Chapman Farms on Sunday, Oct. 5, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Dale Carter from 94.1 KFKF will be there, along with food trucks from Three Pigs BBQ and The Cupcake Cruiser. Kids can meet Elsa from Disney’s “Frozen,” Mav from the Missouri Mavericks and officers from the Blue Springs Police Department. Come tour the Dream Home, enter the drawing for a $10,000 shopping spree, and support the children of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

This story was originally published September 27, 2014 at 7:00 PM with the headline "St. Jude Dream Home giveaway Oct. 12."