Urgent Need for Volunteers

Habitat for Humanity Lansing has an urgent need for volunteers who are interested in working for us both on and off the job site. Many of our volunteers don’t swing hammers; they also stuff envelopes, stock ReStore shelves, and coordinate builds. The following areas are in need of volunteers:

• Family Support Partners are sought to work with newly selected homeowners to guide them through their Sweat Equity, answer questions about owning a home, and explain the mortgage process; these volunteers will spend about an hour each month with their family for up to two years. Contact Heather for more information.
• Welcome Home Crew Members are needed to pick up construction remnants and clean each home a few days before its new owners move in; this crew will meet about six times in 2008. Contact Ginny to sign up.
• One Landscaping Coordinator is needed to put together landscaping materials and crews for each home we build; this could be a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly volunteer commitment. Please ask Ginny for more information.
• One Ordering Coordinator is wanted to work with our Construction Supervisor on ordering building products and gifts in kind; this volunteer will also follow up on orders after their made to ensure proper delivery. Denise can give you more information.
• Coin Crew members are needed to come in to our office and roll coins that were donated by the Lansing Mall; volunteers can come for any amount of time during our normal business hours (8-5 Monday through Thursday). Please contact Julie to help with this project.

Spring Cleaning in the Garden

Many of us are enjoying spring by working in the garden, whether at our home or at a Habitat home. If you find yourself wondering what to do with your extra perennials, please consider donating them to Habitat Lansing for use in our landscaping efforts. We will accept perennials and shrubs in pots during our ReStore hours (10am-6pm Tuesday through Friday and 10am-2pm Saturday). Please drop them off in the grassy area on the North side of our building.

Flagstar Bank Gives Back With You

Flagstar Bank and Habitat Lansing have joined together to increase our building capacity and you can help! For every checking account with direct deposit opened at Flagstar, you will receive a $100 gas card and Habitat will receive a $50 donation. Please learn more by visiting our website or contact Denise.

Rybnikar Family Still Giving

The family of long-time Habitat Lansing supporters Chuck and June Rybnikar are carrying on the family tradition by donating the land that held their parents home. You may remember a fatal fire nearly one year ago that claimed their lives; on the anniversary of that fire, Chuck and June’s children and grandchildren will present Habitat Lansing staff and Board members with land upon which we will build a new home.  The presentation will be at 6008 Pheasant in Lansing at 5pm on Monday, May 12, 2008. All friends of the Rybnikars and Habitat Lansing are invited to attend.

Denise Paquette, our Executive Director, is “personally very touched by this donation. Chuck was one of ‘our old guys’ who did what he could to help us.” Please help us to remember the Rybnikars by attending this memorial and volunteering to build the Rybnikar Memorial House later this year. If you would like to make a memorial gift in their honor, please visit our website or contact Julie.

Habitat Featured on DIY Network

Habitat supporters and fans alike can now be part of the action as DIY Network gives viewers an all-access pass to the 24th annual Carter Work Project in a one-hour television special, “Hollywood Habitat for Humanity,” premiering on Sunday, May 11, at 9 p.m. EST. This program will focus on the building efforts in Los Angeles last year.

The hour-long television special will also help kick off this year’s Carter Work Project event in the Gulf Coast, May 11-16. This year’s build, hosted by Habitat for Humanity of the Mississippi Gulf Coast – with additional participating Habitat affiliates such as New Orleans Area Habitat, Bay Waveland Habitat, St. Tammany West Habitat, Habitat in Mobile County, and more building in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and Texas – focuses on helping an area in dire need of affordable housing. This is a region still recovering from the destruction of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. For more information, please visit the Habitat International website.