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Construction of the first home
In the spring of 2000 our church began its first
Adopt-a-House project, done through
Habitat for Humanity of Germantown. This project involved the building of
an entire house, completely financed by church members and with much of the construction labor
provided by church
members. Conceived and coordinated by church member Bill Ashmead and
Mission Council
member Chad Pilling, this project generated much interest and
participation by our
congregation. A Habitat planning committee, which grew to 13 people, was
assembled and
fund raising began with a golf outing in June and a phonathon in September. Ellen McDevitt
and her friends from the Noble neighborhood took the initiative to do a
carwash which raised a few hundred dollars for the project. Shortly
thereafter a construction kick-off took place at the site on Priscilla
Street in Germantown. An old house was demolished to its foundation to make
way for a new frame building. Yet another group of volunteers provided
lunches for the construction volunteers. |
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By
early October, over half
the $40,000 commitment for construction materials had been raised, including
money for nails and adhesives donated by the Sunday school classes. By late
November, over 80 church members had volunteered to work at the site and the
work schedule had to expanded to two Saturdays per month. By January, 2001,
over 90% of the funds had been raised and the walls and roof were up on the
new house. In February, another group of eager volunteers, working along
with the Habitat Committee, had organized a fundraiser spaghetti dinner,
featuring a sports celebrity and a live auction of prizes, a creative effort
which was a truly fan time for all, pushing fundraising past the 97% mark.
By March, the external sheathing was on, the plumbing and electrical work
done (by the pros) and the wallboard work was underway. Then one of APC's
youth, Rachel Becker proposed a Habitat fundraiser band concert. With the
oversight of the Mission Council, she and her crew organized and staged the
concert, featuring 5 local bands and attended by over 200 youth early in
May, which put the fundraising over the top. Two more fundraisers were done:
a mid-May car wash and a June golf outing.
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