We are rapidly approaching the start of the Centre Wellington Build but Habitat for Humanity and the Centre Wellington Build Committee are not standing around waiting for this to start. Things are BUSY...
On Friday, March 30th the committee is hosting, 'Sheltered from the Storm'. This event will feature delicious food and pleasing music as The Food School & Fancy That Cake will provide the goodies for the evening and Centre Wellington's own Cam Otto will supply great live music.
The special attraction of the evening will be Angry Planet's Storm Chaser, George Kourounis. George was recently on The Grand radio station to promote the event and he's certainly looking forward to supporting Habitat for Humanity.
Moving on to April 14th, we will be breaking ground on Forfar Street to officially kick off the project. The Groundbreaking ceremony is welcomed to the public as we appreciate the support of our communities when we start these projects that will provide sustainable affordable housing to families in the community.
Finally, Elora's own Ian Evans will be embarking on a journey of a lifetime. He will be riding his bicycle "Down Under", 5,000 KM from Perth to Sydney. He will be fundraising money for this community-lifting project. You can sponsor Ian and follow along on his journey through his trip journal.
Fergus get ready, Habitat for Humanity is returning and we need your support!
Here is a great letter I'd love to share. It's from one of our committee members of the Centre Wellington Build that will start in May. The Build is located in Fergus at 124 Forfar St. A Dedication event that will include handing over the keys to the deserving families. Enjoy!
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March 12, 2012
As I sit here typing this letter, my heart overflows at the
generosity of the people ofCentre
Wellington.
On Saturday, March 10th Bethel Baptist Church and
Grand River Community Church hosted a screening of the movie Courageous.The setting was the lovely venue of the
Fergus Grand Theatre; a venue that is warm and inviting.The event was held at no charge but donations
to Habitat for Humanity’s build on Forfar Street were encouraged.
On behalf of the Centre Wellington Build Committee, we are
ENCOURAGED.Your generosity has taken
Habitat another step forward in providing a “hand up” not a “hand out” for two
partner families in our Community.
Thank you, for your generosity.This is a big project.Your generosity has brought us courage and
increased enthusiasm as we get closer to the Ground Breaking Ceremony on April
14th.
Sincerely,
Colleen Roberts
Habitat For Humanity Centre Wellington Build Committee
I challenge you to join the Ranks of those people who live what they teach, who walk their talk ~ Tony Robbins
The above quote was the mission I shared with ten of my colleagues from Habitat for Humanity Wellington County and the Habitat Guelph ReStore on Tuesday, March 6th. All Habitat and ReStore staff came to the conclusion that it's good and all to ask people to donate their time and money to help build more homes for deserving families in our communities, it's another thing to do the job yourself.
For one day, we stepped away from fundraising and volunteer programs, stepped away from advocacy and social media initiatives, stepped away from policies and stepped away from accounting and administration to focus on, "walking our talk" at the My Neighbour's House project.
It was a GREAT day! There are many enjoyable experiences about being on a home-building construction site. You can meet new people with similar interests or reconnect with colleagues. You will learn new trades skills and gain self-confidence that may have been buried below. However, nothing is more enjoyable than knowing your work will equate to a family breaking a from a vicious poverty cycle, potentially moving away from unsafe and dangerous living conditions to go move into a sustainable housing solution, a Habitat for Humanity Home.
It's truly uplifting to think that the doors you are installing in a room could be the very same door that represents a child's first bedroom door. It is satisfying to think that a child's health and grades can improve because of that door you installed.
Selfishly, there were extra incentives to my building experiences. I'm currently renovating my basement and opted to take the project on myself and my Father to finish. Conveniently, as we are at the stage of door installations in the basement project, what do you think I got to learn on the build site at My Neighbour's House? You guessed it.... I learned to install doors! The timing literally couldn't have been better. Now I'll be able to stray from the norm of my Father teaching me everything about renovations and teach him how to propertly install doors; all in thanks to our wonderful Site Supervisor, John. Thanks John!
Another great element of the day was the ability to work alongside staff and the ReStore. I don't cross paths all the time with some staff of the ReStore and it was a pleasure to work alongside them for an entire day. I think I learned a lot about them as they did about me.
Finally, I'd be remisced if I didn't get a chance to detail our lunch! Those of you familiar with The Works Gourmet Burger Bistro might know that last Tuesday, for lunch and dinner periods, offered free meals to partrons in lieu of a donation to HFHWC. Obviously, we weren't going to miss out on this! Collectively, we piled a bunch of money together as our donation and put in a giant order of delicious and juicy gourmet burgers. I 100% recommend the San Francisco Treat that features cheddar and Kraft Dinner. Yes, THE KRAFT DINNER!
The One and Only San Francisco Treat Burger!
It ended up being a memorable day for all of staff and something we'll plan more frequently. If you want in on this experience, please register to volunteer or contact Annie.
*Guest Author: Habitat for Humanity Wellington County Volunteer, Rebecca Smith:
I’m a Do-It-Yourself junkie, I’ll fully
admit it, and I’ve been coming to the Habitat for Humanity Wellington
County’s ReStore for a long time, so when a friend suggested I sign up on
their Volunteer
Hub and volunteer at the ReStore I thought why not? I have now been
volunteering at Habitat for Humanity Wellington County for the past five months
and it has been a very rewarding experience, one I would highly recommend to
anyone looking to make a difference or just have fun!
My first volunteer experience with Habitat
for Humanity Wellington County was in the ReStore, where I got
to help unload trucks, organize inventory, set up a new Christmas display and
help a shopper find exactly what she was
looking for (gorgeous oversized tiles that were being used to restore a
bathroom). The best part about the
morning was the great new people I got to meet. Everyone was so friendly and
willing to include me in their tasks, it was fun start to finish! And I didn’t
leave empty handed I purchased a side table, which I have since painted and
made into a fantastic nightstand.
After my time in the ReStore I started
volunteering in the front office where I have not only got to accomplish a lot,
but I have learned so much. I have helped out with writing blogs, researching
social media stats, following facebook and twitter accounts (@HFHWC), and so much more. The great thing about volunteering in the front
office is the wealth of knowledge I have gained. Luke, the Fundraising and
Communications Coordinator has taught me so much about social media, which I
can now take and apply to my career. It’s
interesting how I started volunteering with Habitat for Humanity Wellington County
to help others and yet I’m personally gaining a lot from my experiences.
Last Tuesday a friend and I went to help
build at 28 Huron Street as part of their reading week blitz. I got the chance
to put my painting stills to use and helped paint one side of the house.
Volunteering at this build was a lot of fun, I met some great new friends and
we had a blast rockin’ out to some old school Will Smith while we cut in,
rolled and generally had a great time!
My experience volunteering at Habitat for
Humanity Wellington County has been amazingly positive from day one. If you’re
looking to volunteer I strongly recommend coming to Habitat for Humanity
Wellington County, it’s really easy to sign-up on their Volunteer
Hub, you get to pick the types of volunteering you want to do (ReStore,
front office or build site), there’s pancake breakfasts, and you meet so many other helpful and
friendly people. Whether it’s at the Restore, in the office or out at the build
site, I plan on continuing to volunteer and hopefully I’ll see you there!
On Tuesday, March 6th, HFHWC will be teaming up with The Works Gourmet Burger Bistro to put the power of affordable housing in your hands. How so? All you need to do is order one of The Works SEVENTY selections of succulent burgers and non-upgradeable side. You'll receive that burger and side for free and instead you'll be asked to make a donation to HFHWC. Here is more info... Straight from the horses mouth
The WORKS Gourmet Burger Bistro- the award-winning gourmet burger bistro, originating in Ottawa in 2001 – is celebrating its 10 year anniversary on March 6th by offering free gourmet burgers to guests of all locations, between 11am-2pm for lunch or 5pm-8pm for dinner. In true WORKS fashion, each neighborhood bistro has selected a local charity in their community and will be collecting monetary donations while serving up complimentary gourmet burgers. Every restaurant will offer a full menu selection, allowing guests to indulge in one of its 70 renowned gourmet burger options. Customers may visit any one of the 10 WORKS locations on March 6th (March 20th for the London location) to indulge in a complimentary gourmet burger while supporting the local community. The popular gourmet burger bistro currently has new locations under construction in Toronto, Waterloo and Peterborough with an additional eight planned for 2012 and recently announced plans to open 50 new stores across Canada.
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.
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.
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.
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