Volunteering on Special Projects

It seems like there's always something special afoot at Habitat ...and we could use your help! A few volunteer opportunities are described below.

School Supplies Drive

For low-income families, preparing youngsters to return to school in the Fall is a budgeting nightmare. Many have difficulty affording new school clothes, not to mention a long list of required classroom supplies.

We need your help!

Every summer Flower City Habitat for Humanity seeks donations for some of the more costly school supplies for our homeowner families. What a great service project for a Vacation Bible School or other youth group! Our collection wraps up in late August. All supplies must be new. Please leave supplies "loose" as needs differ from child to child depending on school, grade level and teacher.

Due to limited storage space, we are only requesting the items listed above. In addition, we are seeking gift cards in increments of $25 and $50 from Wal-Mart, Kmart, Staples and Big Lots to assist our homeowners with stretching their back-to-school dollars for other supplies and clothing for their children.

The Habitat office is located at 755 Culver Rd. near East Main St., across from East High School in the same building as our ReStore.

For additional information, please contact Bethany Cramer at 546-1470, Ext. 304 or bcramer@rochesterhabitat.org.

Housewarming Gifts

It is a joyous time when a family moves into their new home and often volunteers like to offer housewarming gifts to the new homeowner to celebrate this wonderful event.

We discourage giving elaborate or expensive gifts and strive to keep items equal among our homeowners. Typical housewarming gifts include new kitchen items, laundry basket, a hose, rake and gardening tools, home repair tools, fire extinguisher or a snow shovel. For more information, please contact Tiffany Paine at 546-1470, Ext. 315 or tpaine@rochesterhabitat.org.

Holiday Assistance

Every year Habitat identifies families who may be having a difficult time making ends meet and purchasing Christmas gifts for their children. If your congregation would like to participate in this program we will send you names, ages, sex of the family members and suggested gifts. We encourage modest gift giving, even though the family may list more expensive items. Gifts are delivered to our office three weeks before Christmas for distribution to the families. Interested? Please contact Tiffany Paine at 546-1470, Ext. 315 or tpaine@rochesterhabitat.org.

Gala Gift Gathering

Our annual gala is our major fundraising event each year, and an auction is an important component. While we solicit merchandise and donations of services from businesses, we also encourage friends to collect items by hosting a party. Many who might not attend the gala are happy to support Habitat in a more modest way by contributing to a gift-gathering party.

Parties can be built around a theme: gardening, home improvement, spa/beauty, pets, etc. Interested in helping out? Please call Teresa Bianchi in our development office at 546-1470, Ext. 305.