Habitat for Humanity is gaining momentum and it appears it has passed the midway point in their capital campaign.
Habitat for Humanity is poised to breaking ground on a duplex development in North Drumheller in about a year. It has the ambitious goal to raise about $200,000 in donations to make the project possible.
Chris Curtis, Habitat for Humanity Drumheller and District committee chair, is encouraged by the campaign.
“We are between half and two-thirds of the way there,’ said Curtis.
Getting to this point they have taken on some unique fundraising endeavours including the Climb the Dinosaur campaign last summer, and earlier this year hosted a “pop-up” dinner to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
Looking forward, they are planning a Mexican fiesta on Cinco de Mayo.
The involvement is also from students. Grade 8 Student at St. Anthony’s School Tyler Merkowsky, took it upon himself to organize a book sale at his school and raised $325. Principal JoAnne Akerboom is proud of Tyler’s efforts.
Curtis said with this progress, they are not far off from beginning to search for families to purchase the homes.
“We will be starting that process probably within a month or two,” said Curtis. “We go through the process of identifying and prequalifying families, and then the final decision is made in conjunction with our head office in Calgary.”
He said they have a strong and growing board of volunteers, however, they are looking for those with trade skills when it comes to construction.
“One thing we have had to come to grips with is, it is more difficult for volunteers to work on the house than we had first thought. Because we want to build a quality house, Habitat for Humanity is making a decision to get volunteers involved, but not for some of the critical components.
For more information on the project go to the Habitat for Humanity, Drumheller and District Facebook page.
