Home for the Holidays Fundraiser for Craven County Habitat for Humanity

Craven Habitat for Humanity Fundraisers

On Saturday, December 17, 2016 you are invited to take part in a fun night of art, music and spoken word with painter, Laura Gammons, singer/songwriter Hank Barbee and spoken word artist, Meg Wethington as each performs live on site at The Brown Pelican, located at 411 Broad St. from 7-11 pm. Tiny Tornado Food Truck will be there too, to offer wonderful menu options throughout the evening. There is no admission fee for this event. However, we do ask that you consider contributing during the evening or even before you get there.

There will be several ways for the community to get involved in raising money for this mission. The goal is simple. Throughout the month of December, we are calling on the community to help us build a home for the holidays. It costs between $80,000 – $85,000 to build a Habitat Home. There are several ways to help. First and foremost, people can donate on line all month by visiting CravenCountyHabitat.org.

Also throughout the month of December Gammon’s works will be featured at The Brown Pelican and 50% of all December sales will be donated to this event. During the night of the event Barbee will contribute 50% of his merchandise sales to the cause. He offers CD’s and the coolest bracelets made from his recycled guitar strings made with love by Barbee’s mother. All of his merchandise makes for splendid Christmas gifts for any music lover!

On site during the event there will also be an angel tree with simple requests and items needed. For those inspired to help can grab and angel or two and get involved that way. We will also have someone on site accepting donations throughout the night.

For those in the market looking for a car, Riverside Subaru has chosen Craven County Habitat for Humanity for the National Sharing is Caring Event. That means if you buy a car from them during the month of December you can pick which charity to donate to. There are four National choices that include, Meals on Wheels, Make A Wish, National Parks, ASPCA and in our area the local choice this year is Craven County Habitat for Humanity. Should consumers pick Habitat, $250 will be donated to the next build.

Speaking of the build, this house will benefit a local family. The future homeowners have two daughters, aged 4 and 1 years. They were encouraged to apply for a Habitat home by a family member who also was approved and moved into a home built in partnership with our local HFH crew.

Just to clear up a few myths and misnomers; these homes are not given away. The home owners must apply, qualify and commit to mortgage payments that fit their budgets. This is an equal opportunity application available to anyone interested in applying. If your application is accepted, you must commit to the loan program and contribute 200 hours of service to the local chapter of the organization as well.

A few important facts about our local chapter. They were established in 1989 and in that time, they have built 61 local homes here in our county and contributed funds to building 41 homes internationally. The thing that excites Deedra Durocher, Volunteer Coordinator, is the fact that “We have helped make a better life for more than 120 children right here in our community.” Of those kids we have helped, the majority have on to know success in life, whether it be graduating college or working hard. She points out her reason for choosing this charity to champion is because of how important it is to help kids have a safe place to call home. The other exciting thing is that 13 mortgages have been paid in full and none of the homes have defaulted.

The idea for this event came about while Gammons, the painter was talking to Barbee, the entertainer. The two talked about doing a live art and music show and then decided that since it was near Christmas, why not do it for charity? Once the idea was set, (and) Gammons spoke to Wethington who also joined forces. Both Wethington and Gammons have participated with fund raisers in the past for Habitat for Humanity so it was an easy choice, picking a charity that everyone can agree upon.

Submitted by: Deedra Durocher, written by: Tracey Stones Productions