Inbox Marketer's Christmas Donation Needs Your Help!

Habitat for Humanity Wellington County would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! With Santa making his yearly rounds in just a few days, hopefully all the presents have been bought and greeting cards have been sent out.  

Inbox Marketer is a local company that generously donates their email deployment services year round to help Habitat for Humanity Wellington County continually provide HFHWC news and ReStore sales to you. This year Inbox Marketer has created a special Holiday Christmas Card and pledge to make a donation to Habitat for Humanity Wellington County for every click you make! So please take a minute and send one more holiday greeting, simply go to Inbox Marketer's Christmas Card enter your name and email address and click on the link to help Habitat for Humanity grow a house this holiday season.

If you subscribe to the Raisin' the Roof Newsletter or Habitat Guelph ReStore Latest E-blasts you are familiar with the services they provide us. If not, subscribe today!

Merry Christmas to all that believes everyone deserves a safe and decent place to live!

Shop & Share

With the busy holiday season here, more and more people are looking to online shopping to buy all their holiday presents. This year why not give back while giving gifts and use Shop and Share.ca. This online shopping website was launched in August 2009 and makes giving back to local charities easier than ever. A portion of the money spent online gets donated to the charity of your choice.

Founder and CEO Richelle Skrilec started this program to reinvigorate the fundraising landscape throughout the nation.

There are three simple steps to create an account and then you’re ready to shop.

• Step 1: Sign up for a FREE account
• Step 2: Choose your favourite charity. When choosing your favourite charity, don’t forget to select Habitat for Humanity Wellington County!
• Step 3: Choose a store and start shopping

 

There are more than 200 stores on Shop and Share.ca from flowers and beauty to clothes, electronics, toys and more! Once you have selected the store you wish to shop at the site then getting redirects you to the online retailer and you can start shopping. And the great part, the products you purchase don’t cost anymore than they would at the store! So all those who are looking to give back this holiday season can without putting any extra strain on their pocketbook, Skrilec explains...

"Everyone feels more charitable at Christmas but not everyone is able to give, especially with extra expenses during the holidays. We're offering an easy way to support your favourite charity when buying gifts and making purchases you would normally make anyway."

Each retailer on Shop and Share.ca donates a percentage of the amount purchased to the charity. Once Habitat for Humanity Wellington County has received a minimum of $50 worth of donation credits from online purchases made by people like you, Shop and Share.ca will send us a cheque to help fund the building of affordable housing.   

We invite you to check out Shop and Share. You have the ability to add power to your purchases this Holiday Season and help make deserving families' dreams of decent homes, rewarding realities. You have the ability in...Helping Dreams Grow, One Purchase at a Time.

As a mother of two active school-aged children, I quickly became frustrated with traditional fundraisers. It seemed like we were always being asked to sell and/or purchase items that no one wanted or needed - just to support our local school, sports teams, etc. Plus, as a volunteer with numerous organizations, I spent substantial time and energy helping with some of the fundraisers, counting money, photocopying forms, compiling orders, etc. And, although I knew I was helping to make a difference in our community, I also knew that there had to be an easier way to raise money given the increasing popularity of online shopping. After a great deal of brainstorming and research, the 'Shop and Share.ca' concept was born.

Habitat & Home Depot: Building Sustainable Houses

“More saving. More doing. That’s the power of Home Depot.” The Home Depot Canada

And the power is certainly helping Habitat for Humanity Wellington County. From December 7^th to the 8^th, Team Depot Guelph was on-site, volunteering at our 28 Huron Street build in Guelph. There were 11 team members all eager and excited to help build homes for two deserving families. 

Team Depot "Representin'"

This year The Home Depot Canada Foundation awarded Habitat for Humanity Wellington County the Sustainable Housing Grant of $10,000! This grant is given to support home building projects that incorporate environmentally responsible building techniques and/or materials.

The Home Depot Canada and Habitat for Humanity have a long-standing relationship built on the shared commitment to ensuring Canadian families in need of adequate housing gain access to safe, decent and affordable homes. The Sustainable Housing Grant Program encompasses both sustainable building and social responsibility for green building. This refers to building using a process that is environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition. Some of the techniques and build components Habitat for Humanity Wellington County has incorporated to make this a sustainable build include;

·         Drain water heat recovery

·         Energy Star certified building practices

·         Use of spray foam insulation in walls to reduce energy consumption

·         Use of R50 attic insulation to reduce energy consumption

·         Argon gas windows for optimal thermal performance

·         Energy Star qualified hot water tank – 67 efficiency

·         High efficiency furnace- 95% efficiency EMC motor

·         Effective ventilation – HRV unit 75% efficiency  

In 2011, The Home Depot Canada Foundation again held the Buy a Hammer, Build Our Community campaign. At any The Home Depot locations, customers could purchase a 'paper hammer' for $2, which would help build affordable housing and stronger, more sustainable communities. All of the funds raised supported local community-benefit organizations including Habitat for Humanity.

Home Depot's Sheila Fildes presents a cheque to HFHWC's Diane Nelson

In addition to the Sustainable Building Grant and the Buy a Hammer, Build Our Community campaign, The Home Depot Canada Foundation is a titled sponsor in the Habitat for Humanity 360 Built Smart Partnership. This is a national initiative that drives funding to support all aspects of the need for affordable housing, including sustainable community development.

Sustainable community development is defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Canadian Auditor General Act

The 360 Build Smart Partnership is dealing with sustainable community development by;

·         Enabling families to safe, decent and affordable housing

·         Building to the highest safety standards

·         Building ‘greener’ homes and reducing our environmental impact

·         Creating authentic collaboration and fostering leadership

·         Creating local leaders and stronger connections to the community

·         Reduction of CO2 emissions

·         Promoting the ReStores

As we enter the middle of December, we begin to look toward the New Year and all of the exciting new and continuing projects we have in the works. 2012 will prove to be a very thrilling year as because Habitat for Humanity Wellington County was awarded a $25,000 grant from the 360 Built Smart Partnership and we will use this funding for an exciting project that will allow us to attract more famillies to partner with us in the search for decent housing! STAY TUNED! 

Finally, we want to take a few words to share a heart-felt thank you to all associates at The Home Depot Guelph for their commitment to sell Paper Hammers throughout the month of June and the same dedication they've displayed helping us build two homes and provide a sustainable future for two richly-deserving families. A special thanks to the leader of The Home Depot Guelph associates, Store Manager, Sheila Fildes. It's been a true pleasure to partner with Sheila on many projects throughout the past year and we're thrilled she has an unwavering commitment to Habitat for Humanity.


Team Depot installing the ceiling