Build-a-Thon

Habitat for Humanity East Bay's annual Earth Day Build-A-Thon finished yesterday, and was a huge success. Hundreds of people came together to frame 8 houses at the Edes Avenue building site in Oakland. Local Lutherans were there to represent Prince of Peace, Fremont; Resurrection Lutheran, Dublin; Trinity Lutheran, Pleasanton; Our Savior, Livermore; and even the Thrivent Financial office in Fremont. (If I didn't list your church and you were there, let me know by posting a comment. Also let me know if you have pictures to share.)

All 8 houses rose from the foundation slab up to the roof trusses in just 4 short days. There were a lot of little cuts and bruises (I got my share), but fortunately it was a safe event with no serious injuries. People worked hard and had a great time supporting a great cause and getting a lot of work done.

The Build-a-Thon is also a fund-raising event. They won't have the final numbers for a while as pledges continue to come in, but by all accounts it was successful in that regard, too.

A special thanks to the house leaders for the Thrivent Builds house, Gary and Juan, and the construction assistant, Laurie. The three of them made a great team and made sure the work got done right while keeping people busy with different tasks all over the house. Gary is also the architect for this project, and donated his design time to Habitat.