Habitat for Humanity of Greater Orlando Area recently celebrated National Women Build Week, an initiative designed to empower women to take action against poverty housing conditions. Locally, more than 400 women volunteered to build five townhomes at Stag Horn Villas, the nonprofit’s first multi-family community. During the effort from May 2 – 7, more than $100,000 was raised by event sponsors and fundraising teams.
The annual event was made possible through a national partnership with Lowe’s. Lead sponsors were Delta Air Lines; Universal Orlando; Aon Hewitt, Florida Distributing Company; SunTrust (Central Florida Division) and GE Capital Corporation.
“We are so grateful to all the women who participated,” said Dee Danmeyer, executive director for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Orlando Area. “Their hard work helped create future homes for five Central Florida families.”
In support of the build, Lowe’s provided Habitat Orlando with a $5,000 store gift card, as well as in-store volunteer training. The company also contributed more than $1.3 million to National Women Build Week this year, providing grants and support materials to 250 participating affiliates nationwide. This event is one of the major initiatives supported through Lowe’s five-year, $40 million pledge to Habitat.
“We have been the proud sponsor of Habitat’s Women Build program since 2004. This innovative program encourages women to pick up a hammer and build homes alongside Habitat partner families,” said Larry D. Stone, Lowe’s president and COO, and chairman of the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation. “We salute the thousands of women who’ve volunteered on Habitat job sites during the past 20 years and who will contribute in the years to come.”
To date, more than 8,000 women volunteers have built 1,500 Habitat homes nationwide. For additional information, visit www.habitat-orlando.org/Women-Build.
