Weitz Raises $33,000 for Parkinson's Foundation

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For More Information, Contact:
Laura Luger, Marketing Coordinator
The Weitz Company
(402) 592-7000 

 Weitz Raises $33,000 for Parkinson's Disease Foundation                 with 6th Annual Volleyball Challenge

Omaha, Neb. (June 15, 2008)

The Weitz Company hosted 42 corporate teams in its sixth annual Parkinson's Volleyball Challenge held June 7th at The Digz Volleyball Complex, located at 140th & Old "L" streets in Omaha.  A total of 65 area companies contributed to the event.

All the $33,275.00 in pledged proceeds gained from the competition was donated to the local chapter of the American Parkinson’s Disease Association.  Since its inception, the event has raised nearly $146,000.  The event's co-coordinators, Sheila Bernhards and Lori Nelson, Weitz accounting and support, called the annual tournament "a whole company effort."

Hockenberg's, a sponsor/participant every year since the first challenge in 2003, was the 2008 champion beating out the dozens of teams that competed.

The Weitz Company began the tournament six years ago as a way to help a Weitz company employee who was diagnosed with Parkinson's.  Ronee Christensen, an employee of Abe's Trash Service who played in the challenge, has a grandmother who suffers from Parkinson's disease. 

This was the first year the Abe's Trash Service team participated in the challenge and the team made it to the semi-finals.  "It was really inspiring and fun," Christensen said.  She added that the event was very well organized and said the best part was, "meeting everyone and helping out the cause."

Parkinson disease is a brain disorder that damages dopamine producing cells, which affect smooth and coordinated body muscle movement.  The key signs of Parkinson disease include tremor (shaking), slowness of movement, rigidity (stiffness) and difficulty with balance.  Parkinson disease affects both men and women in almost equal numbers.  It shows no social, ethnic, economic or geographic boundaries.  In the U.S, 60,000 new cases are diagnosed each year, joining the 1.5 million Americans who currently have Parkinson disease.  While the condition usually develops after the age of 65, 15 percent of those diagnosed are under age 50.

Special recognition goes out to the sponsors of and participants in the 2008 Weitz event: 
 
SPONSORS &/OR TEAMS
Abe's Trash Service
Advanced Building Components
Ahern Fire Protection
Alvine Engineering
AMI Environmental
Atlas Steel Erection
Baxter Kenworthy
Bolts, Etc.
Commonwealth Electric
Continental Fire Sprinkler
Controlled Comfort
DLR Group
doka, USA
Drake Williams Steel
E & K of Omaha
Enterprise Precast
Farris Engineering
Hockenbergs Equipment
Holland Basham Architects
Jobsite Supply
Johnson Hardware
Kimcon, Inc.
Leo A Daly
Midwest Mechanical
Midwest Scaffold
Miller Electric
Nebraska Machinery
Noddle Companies
Pella
R.A.E. Rebar
Ready Mix Concrete
Seiler Instruments
Swanson-Gentleman-Hart
SOS Heating & Cooling
Terracon
The Digz
The Lund Company
The Schemmer Associates
The Waldinger Corporation
Thiele Geotech
Thompson Electric
Thompson Plumbing
Tighton Tools
Total Tool
Additional Donors:
Anchor Construction Company
BMW Consulting
Cormaci Construction
Darden-Gloeb-Reeder
Electronic Contracting
G.E. Appliances
Heimes
Hiller Electric
Ideal Pure Water
J & R Mechanical
JH Roofing
Keystone Glass
Mainelli Mechanical
Master Mechanical
M.E. Group, Inc.
Millard Lumber
Nielsen, Mayne Architects
Omni Engineering
Payless Office Supplies
Prairie Mechanical Corp.
Puritan Manufacturing
Seedorf Masonry
Standard Digital
 
The date selected for 2009 is Saturday, June 6.  

The Weitz Company is one of the nation’s leading general contractors, with offices in Omaha, Lincoln, Des Moines, Denver, Kansas City, Phoenix, and West Palm Beach.  According to the Engineering News Record Web site (ENR.com), Weitz ranks 20th nationally among the top contractors in the country with domestic general building revenue of more than $1.4 billion in 2007.