Habitat Home Store Happenings

Always willing to lend a hand…

Exciting things are happening in the Home Improvement Store! A few months ago we were approached by the Newport Beach Chapter of the American Cancer Society. Their 7^th Annual Relay for Life takes place this weekend (May 16-18) at Newport Harbor High School. This three-day event highlights survivors and will be filled with tons of activities! Saturday night you can see Habitat’s representation at the Luminaria ceremony with presentations by the CEO of the American Cancer Society California Division and the incredible story of one cancer survivor. Without hesitation, the Home Improvement Store has donated materials necessary to make the room for this event as comfortable as possible for survivors, family and friends.

All are welcome to the Relay for Life, so if you have time this weekend, pop in, listen to some great bands, meet some awesome people and hear many speak about their will and strength to fight cancer! The Home Improvement Store is a proud sponsor and we’re all looking forward to helping out in the future!

If you have any ideas about how the Home Improvement Store can help your organization, please contact us at (310) 323-HOME.

Posted by: Home Store Nicki

Annual Fine Art Event in Manhattan Beach Helps Build More Affordable Homes in L.A.

Art/House 2008 is this weekend! Did you know that Beach Cities Friends started with some friends in the South Bay of Los Angeles throwing parties to raise money for our Habitat for Humanity affiliate? Yes, and now 8 years later, they have been one of our most successful partnerships, having sponsored six homes!

The Art/House event is a silent auction that brings together the community to bid on 100% donated works of fine art from major artists and rising stars. Last year's event raised over $60,000 - enough to build 1/2 of a single family Habitat home in Los Angeles! Can you imagine raising that much money in just a few hours and having a great time doing it?

If this sounds good, follow the lead of the Beach Cities Friends and bring your friends together to raise money for a cause or organization that is important to you! If you wish to work with Habitat for Humanity, contact us and we'll even attend your event to talk about how we operate and how you all can help.

Upcoming Habitat GLA Events - Save the Dates!

• Beach Cities Friends & Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles proudly present Art House 2008, Sat. May 10, 6:30 – 10 pm, over 50 beautiful works of art by world renowned artist, live music, food, drink. All to benefit HFH GLA. Free admission. RSVP Required, contact Christa Reiff for info 310-323-4663 ext. 124
• Join HFH GLA, Volunteers, Sponsors and Partner Families for a Habitat Block Party to celebrate our newest homeowners. Saturday, June 7 at Vermont Village, 11120 S. Vermont Ave. at 112th Street and Saturday, June 21 at Harborside Terrace, 308 N. Palos Verdes Ave. at O’Farrell in San Pedro. Entertainment, Food, Fun, 10 am – 3 pm. RSVP required, contact Janell McKane, 310-323-4663 ext. 129

The Housing Center for Excellence Training Days:

• Cornerstone Training: A 14 unit training that will teach construction skills needed on our sites. Held Saturday mornings 9 am - noon and Wednesday nights 6-9 pm. Training will start on Saturday May 17 and go through Wednesday, July 2. To receive the certificate of completion for the training, participants must attend at least 11 of the 14 training sessions. This is the first Cornerstone course, space is very limited.
• Crew Leader Training: A four week training course from 6-9pm on Tuesday nights, May 27th to June 20th. The Crew Leader training will focus on understanding Habitat procedures and how to lead teams of volunteers. No skills assessment will be needed, but participants should have basic construction skills and have previous experience on a Habitat site as a volunteer. Participants should commit to all four training sessions. Space is very limited for the Crew Leader training.
  RSVP today to Deborah Lewis, ext. 119

Coming Up:

• 15th Annual Fannie Mae Golf Tournament to Benefit Habitat GLA: August 28 & 29 in beautful Dana Point. Golf, Silent Auction and Gala with live entertainment. Please contact Jo-An Turman at 310-323-4662 ext. 121 to register.
• Don’t miss our “Building a Greater Los Angeles” Gala, Wednesday, October 1, 2008, Beverly Hilton Hotel. Call Jo-An for more information & tickets, ext. 121

Visit our site for all upcoming event listings.

Another Local Family Celebrates Homeownership - We Break Ground this Saturday!

This Saturday, we will be celebrating homeownership with the Gaxiola family at the site of their new home in Los Angeles. Thanks to all our volunteers and Thrivent Builds for funding another home in Los Angeles!

Congratulations Gaxiolas!

Read the Media Alert

In April the girls from Archer school organized a great fundraising event. They held their first Woof n' Wash in April and they hope to make this an Annual event! Over twenty young ladies, their fathers siblings and a few moms helped organize the event, then volunteered to bathe dogs, and sell Habitat for Humanity items and refreshing beverages and snacks.

The group held a Silent auction where a Puggle was auctioned with proceeds going towards Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles. The event was held in Barrington Dog Park in Brentwood on April 12th, and volunteers spread the word about Habitat for Humanity. They also got to spend time with friendly dogs and their owners and enjoyed a bright sunny day! The fundraiser was a Huge success and the group raised well over $3,000 dollars! Just another creative example of how people are getting out their to support Habitat's commitment to building a Greater Los Angeles!

Gayle Anderson from KTLA makes A Brush With Kindness Her Newsroom!

Last week, Habitat for Humanity Greater Los Angeles had the pleasure of spending A Brush With Kindness Day with Gayle Anderson. Many Angelinos know Gayle for her quirky and fun segments that air every morning on KTLA. Our day was just as much fun as a viewer would imagine! Gayle helped paint a fence, spoke with Partner families and really urged viewers to sign up to volunteer! She spoke with CEO Erin Rank and mentioned how therapeutic volunteering can be for your soul! If you would like to read about the segment go here, at the bottom of the article you can even view the segments that were on air! Thanks to the Lair family (the homeowners) for hosting us all before the sun even came up!

"Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth" The Great Muhammad Ali