Elon’s chapter of Habitat for Humanity celebrated a milestone on May 8th when it dedicated the 25th house built for a family in Alamance County.
May 8 was a wonderful moment for two reasons—it was Vilma Sanchez’s birthday and the dedication of her new home, built by Habitat for Humanity of Alamance County. As a new homeowner, Vilma spent hundreds of hours working on her house alongside other Habitat families, members of the community, and Elon students. Members of the campus chapter and the Burlington community were on hand to celebrate with Vilma and her daughters as they began to move in to their new home.
Vilma’s house was the 25th home sponsored and built by the Elon campus chapter. Each year, the chapter commits to fundraising $30,000 and dedicating hundreds of hours throughout the year to build a home for a family in the county. The chapter has over 200 active members and involves many of them on weekly build projects. Elon’s chapter is one of the more active in the country and has achieved a milestone of 25 homes that few campus chapters have reached.
This year, the chapter was fortunate to receive a grant from State Farm that supported the sponsorship of this home. State Farm provided a $10,000 grant to match the funds raised by the campus chapter. These funds go directly to support the construction costs of a home. State Farm agent Michael Shoffner was present on Sunday to present the funds to Habitat for Humanity of Alamance County and recognize the campus chapter for their work throughout the year.
John Barnhill and Chaplain Richard McBride were also present at the dedication and offered their perspective as the founders of the campus chapter over 25 years ago.
Zachary Fisher ’16, one of the co-directors of the campus chapter, said that the students “are very proud to be a part of dedicating our 25th house in Alamance County and we are grateful to State Farm for their support. It has been amazing to work with our student volunteers this year and see their dedication to supporting the Sanchez family.”
For more information on the campus chapter or to support their fundraising efforts, please contact Evan Small at esmall@elon.edu.