Manatee Habitat is once again participating in the Kirkwood Presbyterian Church anual alternative Christmas maket.  This is a great chane to purchase a special holiday gift that helps support local charities.

The 16th Annual Alternative Christmas Market

SATURDAY

            December 3, 2011

9 am – 1 pm

KIRKWOOD

Presbyterian Church

6101 Cortez Road West

Bradenton, FL 34210 

A ministry of First, Kirkwood,

Palma Sola & Westminister

  Presbyterian Churches

This Christmas give gifts that keep on giving……

 
Surprise your altruistic friends and relatives with unique, meaningful gifts from the Alternative Christmas Market.

For example, the money you might usually spend for another trinket can…….

Feed hungry people at Our Daily Bread.
Diaper S.O.L.V.E. babies.
Protect Humane Society pets.
Show teenagers that they are valued.
Build Habitat houses.
Fund a Christian mission trip scholarship.
Sponsor discipleship training for young men battling addictions.
Impact children through Christian soccer.

Variety of non-profit organizations will be represented at The Market to give you information on how to make a difference in Bradenton, Manatee County and the world.  Then, you can choose your gifts or make contributions to the charities of your choice in honor of your friends and relatives.  You’ll get gift announcement cards to give your recipients.

Crafts from SERRV, an international fair trade organization, and gift items from some charities will also be sold in the Gift Room.
Mark Your Calendar
Saturday, December 3rd
9 am – 1 pm

Unable to attend The Market?

Remember your family and friends
and support your favorite charities. List charities and gift amounts below. Cards will be sent to you for your
recipients.

Charity Gift $

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

Total Enclosed: $____________

Please make check payable to:
Kirkwood Presbyterian Church

Please mail to:
6101 Cortez Rd. W.,
Bradenton, FL 34210
no later than December 5th

Please send me ________ Gift Cards.

Name __________________________

Address ________________________

City _____________ St ___ Zip_____

PAUL VIDELA/pvidela@bradenton.com Antionette Kilgore, left, of the Palmetto CRA with Betty Hammond inside her refurbished home.

The Manatee County affiliate of Habitat for Humanity and the Palmetto CRA is pleased to announce the dedication of Betty Hammond’s home in Palmetto Florida. We are grateful to all that helped work on the “Re-Habitat” of Betty’s home and appreciate your hard work. The dedication is scheduled to take place OCTOBER 27^th at 11:30AM at the Hammond home. To read more about Bettys story,  http://www.bradenton.com/2011/10/10/3561004/a-blessing-came-to-me.html?storylink=addthis

Come support Manatee Habitat for Humanity and  Woodland Community Church in their efforts to raise money to help change the lives of a family in Manatee County, through the “A Brush with Kindness Program”.  Thrusday, October 13th, 2011 at the Bradenton Sweet Tomatoes at 5407 University Pkwy, from 5:00pm until 8:00pm!

10^th Annual Suncoast Food & Wine Fest

The 10^th Annual Suncoast Food & Wine Fest, sponsored by the Lakewood Ranch Rotary Club will be held at the Sarasota Polo grounds on Saturday November 12, 2011 from 1:00-4:00 PM.

  Attendees will have the pleasure of sampling more than 300 American and International wines, and food servings from more than 38 of the area’s finest restaurants.

In addition they will receive a complimentary signature wine glass and snack plate, enjoy live music, a silent auction, beer tastings, cooking demonstrations which will feature local celebrity Chef’s, and free parking.  All included in the ticket price of $60 per person. New this year attendees may purchase their favorite wine choices at the event and take them home.

The Suncoast Food & Wine Fest is the largest fundraising activity held by the Rotary Club of Lakewood Ranch.  Rotarians contribute thousands of hours to make this fund raising event a success as well as spend time in the community participating in projects funded.  Each year numerous charities are selected through a grant application process (open to all 501(C-3) charities in the Sarasota/Manatee County area), to be the recipients of the net proceeds. 

  The Rotary Club of Lakewood Ranch is proud to have raised more than $825,000 from the Suncoast Food & Wine Fest to date, funding an average of 25 local charities in Sarasota and Manatee Counties yearly.   This (our 10^th) year the club hopes to top the one million dollar mark.

Bring your friends and create your own event-within-an event, experience some new tastes, and enjoy the festivities and help support charities in Sarasota and Manatee counties.

 For more information or to obtain tickets for the Suncost Food & Wine Fest visit the Festival’s website at www.suncoastfoodandwinefest.com or phone (941)870-0002 .

 CONTACT: LAURIE HAGBERG dhagberg@verizon.net (941)358-2068

Hello Volunteers!

Here’s the latest scoop:

As you many know, I have had the honor of serving with you and this community as Volunteer Coordinator this past year through the AmeriCorps National Direct program. My year-long term is coming to an end on August 12^th, and my wife and I will be moving on to an overseas teaching opportunity. My time here has been a blessing to me and I can not thank you enough for your support of Manatee Habitat while I’ve been here.

We are pleased to have Ogden Clark come aboard as our new Volunteer Coordinator. I’m very excited to have him here, especially since he’ll be able to bring his background in volunteer services to us as we strive to expand our community impact.

This is an exciting time. We have many more opportunities coming up on the horizon. Of course, with more opportunities comes a greater need for volunteers. We are going full-steam with brush with kindness, as well as renovating a Palmetto home through the assistance of the Palmetto Community Redevelopment Agency. On top of that, we’ll be picking back up at Hope Landing at the end of August and start work on multiple units in the next several months. Right now we have about 10 volunteers coming out each workday, but we’ll need to increase that number to 30-60 per workday. Whoa!

Even if you are not comfortable working in construction, we could definitely use the help in making these workdays run smoothly.

You can signup for the following opportunities by visiting our online calendar.

A Brush With Kindness – Vinyl Siding

We’ll be installing vinyl siding at a house in Bradenton for the next couple weeks starting Saturday, August 6^th. No experience necessary, just a willingness to learn!

A Brush With Kindness – Painting

A house in Palmetto is in need of a new coat of paint. This is a great opportunity for those who  want to get their feet wet with what Habitat is doing in the community.

Rehab – Palmetto CRA – Various Tasks

Just around the corner from our Construction Depot, we are doing a major rehab of a house. We started with the roof, but are now completing the interior. Over the next couple of weeks we’ll be working on cabinetry, flooring, painting, windows and other specialized tasks. If you are experienced, this is an opportunity to use your skill to help others. If you are not, it’s a great way to learn a new skill!

Hope Landing – Starting the Next Units

Mark your calendar for the end of August as we will begin to go full-steam with the construction of the next two units from the ground up.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me, or the new Volunteer Coordinator, Ogden Clark.

Thank you for your continued support!

-          Joey Caltabellotta

Hello Volunteers!

There’s a lot of exciting things on the horizon! Here are the highlights:

“Built to Read” Park Cleanup & Book Drive – Saturday, July 23rd

Across the street from Hope Landing is an elementary school. Also, most of our homeowners have children of their own. For my AmeriCorps Community Service Project, I asked the question, “How can we turn a one-day service project into a lasting contribution toward the community’s children?” My thought was to accomplish two things at once: set-up a day where volunteers can clean-up a local park, where children play frequently, but also collect children’s books that will in turn be given to the nearby elementary school for students and teachers to use in class to practice reading.

Click here to read more and to sign up.

Ramping Up the Volunteer Workforce

Over the next few weeks to a month, we’re looking to step up our impact on the community by through our Brush With Kindness program. We’re also looking to increase production at Hope Landing by constructing multiple units at a time. To meet these needs, we’ll be increasing our volunteer workforce from about 10 people per workday to between 40 and 60 people per workday. This is going to be quite a challenge, but with enough support, it can be done. Here’s who we’re looking for:

-          Groups, Churches, schools, businesses…especially those that want to set up a regular schedule

-          People of all skill levels as well as people with specializations

-          People to help with recruitment and worksite support

ReStore in Tallevast Looking for Volunteers

Both ReStores have experienced huge success since the big opening of the second location on Cortez Road. With the increased success comes a greater need for volunteers to help in the ReStores. Both locations can use help, but especially the ReStore in Tallevast by the SRQ Airport. If you are interested in helping out, the ReStore is open 6 days a week.

Getting Involved

The first step is to take a look at all the possibilities for involvement. No matter your skill level, or area of interest, we want to find a fit for you.

For a list of available workdays, visit our online volunteer calendar. Keep in mind that we post opportunities about 1-2 weeks in advance. If you are interested in scheduling a workday further in advance, or want to assist in recruitment or support, please contact me directly at volunteer@manateehabitat.org or 941-748-9100 ext. 104.

Thank you so much for your continued support and have a wonderful weekend!

- Joey C.

How can we turn a one-day service project into a lasting contribution toward the community’s children? My thought was to accomplish two things at once: set-up a day where volunteers can clean-up a local park, where children play frequently, but also collect children’s books that will in turn be given to the nearby elementary school for students and teachers to use in class to practice reading.

The Manatee County Parks & Recreation Department has enabled us to do such a project.

As you may know, I am an AmeriCorps member in service to Manatee County Habitat for Humanity. One of my duties as an AmeriCorps member is to organize a service opportunity that addresses a specific need of the surrounding community, beyond our usual scope.

Across the street from Hope Landing is an elementary school. Also, most of our homeowners have children of their own. So naturally, I explored the needs of the children in the community.

Manatee County is home to many talented and devoted teachers as well as thousands of brilliant students. However, in 2008, the average percentage of elementary students meeting “high standards” of reading was only 74% and the average percentage of students on free and reduced lunch was 55% (www.manateeschools.net). In spite of having outstanding students and teachers, the availability of classroom resources can have a great impact on a child’s educational experience.

Aside from school libraries and curriculum reading material, all in-class reading material must be purchased out-of-pocket by teachers themselves. With 55% of students in the free and reduced lunch program, it is possible that many of them may not have access to reading resources at home. Success in reading education depends heavily on having a choice of reading materials available for students beyond what is mandated by curriculum.

Fill out the form below to join us. If you are unable to come to help clean-up, but would still like to donate children’s books, we would still greatly appreciate it! If you have any questions, contact me at volunteer@manateehabitat.org or (941) 748-9100 ext. 104

Thank you for all you do!

Joey Caltabellotta
Volunteer Coordinator (AmeriCorps)
Manatee Co. Habitat for Humanity

The official opening of the ReStore on Cortez created a lot of buzz on July 4th. Great deals, free food, and convenient location made the opening celebration a huge success!

Check out the article in the Bradenton Herald.

Hello Volunteers!

July 4th – ReStore 2 on Cortez Official Opening Celebration Cookout
We would like to wish everyone a wonderful Independence Day weekend! Come join us as we celebrate the birth of this great nation at the OFFICIAL RESTORE 2 OPENING COOKOUT on July 4th from 11:00am-1:00pm. We’ll have hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, soda and more! It is FREE to join us, but if you happen to have any household goods that you’ve been meaning to get rid of, we’ll gladly accept donations (especially clothes and linens)!

For more information about the cookout, click here.

Construction Volunteer Non-Workdays
We will not be having construction or A Brush With Kindness workdays on Saturday, July 2nd or Tuesday, July 5th in observance of Independence Day. We will be back to work on Thursday, July 7th.

Upcoming Opportunities
As you may know, the first two units at Hope Landing have been officially moved into! Thanks to all of you who have helped to make this possible! We will begin work on the next units in late July or early August. In the meantime, we are going full steam with our A Brush With Kindness program, partnering with the Palmetto Community Redevelopment Agency to complete a major home renovation in Palmetto. Additionally we are planning a handful of smaller ABWK projects throughout July to keep the momentum going until Hope Landing picks back up.

Check the online volunteer calendar for details and to sign up for the Palmetto CRA renovation and other projects.

A Call for Volunteers
Once we restart work at Hope Landing, we’ll need to grow in regular volunteer participation. Since January of this year, we have had an average of 8 volunteers per workday at Hope Landing. Once we begin work on the next unit, we’ll need to grow that number to about 20-30 volunteers per day. Then, around Fall, we’ll begin work on the third set of houses while continuing work on the second set. At that point, we’ll need between 40-60 volunteers on any given workday as we are working on multiple units. If you can begin to spread the word throughout our community, we can reach or goal of a fully equipped volunteer team that can take on this challenge.

Thank you again for all you do, and have a wonderful and safe July 4th weekend!

- Joey Caltabellotta, Volunteer Coordinator

The moment has arrived!

In celebration of the completion of the first two Hope Landing homes, join us on-site for the dedication ceremony on Saturday, June 18th at 11:00am. There will be a few words, a blessing of the homes, and refreshments to follow.

Thank you to all of our volunteers, donors, families and supporters who have made this moment possible!

Hope Landing is located at:
1642 38th Avenue East
Ellenton, FL 34222