A DAY OF SERVICE
For the fifth consecutive year, Kaiser Permanente Fresno employees spent their Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday volunteering with Habitat for Humanity Fresno County.
Despite the cold and rainy weather, 32 Kaiser Permanente volunteers, along with Habitat staff, and one of the selected Habitat partner families painted the interior walls and hung sheetrock at two homes at 172 and 182 N. Echo Avenue in the historical Lowell/Jefferson neighborhood in downtown Fresno. The Kue family of six and the Vang family of seven will each occupy a 1,212 square foot, three bedroom, two bathroom home. Both homes will be dedicated on February 27, 2010, and two more families in Fresno County will achieve the dream of homeownership.
Executive Director Tony Miranda said, “We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to Kaiser Permanente for its ongoing support of Habitat for Humanity Fresno County. Since 2005, Kaiser Permanente has generously donated $75,000 and hundreds of valuable volunteer hours that have made a substantial difference in the lives of many Habitat partner families.”
Kaiser’s goal of this “day on” instead of a “day off” was to champion affordable housing opportunities for qualifying low-income families in Fresno County. We thank Kaiser Permanente for their continued commitment for affordable housing through Habitat for Humanity Fresno County.
According to Jeff Collins, senior vice president and area manager of Kaiser, “In today’s challenging economic times, Kaiser Permanente recognizes the importance of volunteerism, not only on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day but also year-round. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Habitat for Humanity, celebrating Dr. King’s legacy and in building better communities.”
THRIVENT SPONSORS 5TH HOUSE FOR HABITAT FRESNO!
Habitat for Humanity Fresno County is honored by the ongoing commitment of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, Sierra Northwest Region. The Thao family home represents the fifth home built in partnership with our affiliate. The new home of 1,248 square feet will contain four bedrooms and two bathrooms and will be located in our new subdivision at Clara North Village in southwest Fresno. With the building of this fifth consecutive home, Thrivent’s investment in our affiliate will exceed $500,000!
Clara North Village is a joint partnership with the City of Fresno, the Fresno Redevelopment Agency, and the Fresno West Coalition for Economic Development. With
the construction of this subdivision, Habitat Fresno will be investing $1.6 million in an area of southwest Fresno that has not seen any improvement for nearly twenty years.
Thrivent’s long tradition for sponsoring affordable housing has not slowed even with the current economic downturn and mortgage crisis. By the end of 2009, more than 1,300 homes were built in the United States through the Thrivent Builds Homes program and nearly 700 additional homes through the Thrivent Builds Worldwide program. In 2010, Thrivent Builds plans to allocate $13M towards affordable housing. Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity International will help 181 families open doors to new lives in 2010.
Habitat Fresno is privileged to be the California affiliate with the most Thrivent-sponsored homes. Partnering with Thrivent has allowed Habitat Fresno to build more homes on a faster schedule to meet the needs of the citizens of Fresno County.
DONOR SPOTLIGHT
Habitat for Humanity would like to thank Hart & Cooley for their new partnership with our affiliate. Hart & Cooley is a manufacturing company that provides insulation and other heating and cooling products. According to Stephanie Moreno, Human Relations Manager at the Sanger affiliate of
Hart & Cooley, their company has a long tradition of giving back to the community. “Each plant picks their own non-profit and Habitat Fresno was selected because of its reputation and its service to the community,” she said.
Their first donation to Habitat was in December 2009 when they delivered 2218 pounds of insulation to ReStore. Of course, ReStore has big plans to sell this great product to its customers, but the construction site will also have access to this product as well.
Thank you again for your very generous donation!
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT
This month Habitat would like to give special thanks to the volunteer efforts of Cargill Regional Beef. The company, which produces
high-quality beef, pork and turkey products, has been volunteering
with Habitat for Humanity for the last several years. The business
serves both retail grocery and food service companies.
Cargill has already booked 6 of the 20 framing days available at the new Clara North Village subdivision in southwest Fresno. In addition to their donation of man power, Cargill will be donating $15,000 to Habitat for a partial house sponsorship.
Cargill Regional Beef has not only donated countless hours of manpower and service, but has also donated meat and preparation time for several Habitat events including home dedication celebrations.
Cargill’s employees and retirees lend their time and talent around the world to advance access to health and nutrition programming, support innovation in education, and protect our global natural resources. For more information about Cargill and their global contributions, please visit their website at www.cargill.com.
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