College's Habitat for Humanity Donates $2,500 to Addison County Branch

Author: Caroline Stauffer

Last Saturday, the Middlebury College Branch of Habitat For Humanity (HFH) donated $2500 to the Addison County branch of HFH.
About half of the money came from HFH fundraisers from previous years, and the other half from this year's fundraising efforts, such as the beans and rice dinner, according to Tim Connolly '04.
Because the Addison County branch of HFH is relatively new, the Middlebury branch has set a goal of helping to expand the organization by doing fundraising and providing student labor to assist in construction. A family and construction site are selected by the local branch.
This year's donation will be used to construct a house off of Route 116 on Mean Lane. Most construction will take place this summer, and the house should be near completion next fall.
"We're trying to make the organization bigger," Connolly said, "and possibly expand construction to two houses each year."
In addition to presenting the check, HFH also hosted an Art Auction on May 2 and 3, and approximately $400 in proceeds from the event have been calculated so far. This money will go toward buying supplies for the current project or toward next year's site.
The art auction is an annual event at Middlebury College, but was sponsored by HFH for the first time last weekend.
Connolly, Emily Egginton '06, Annie Davies '06, Becca Leaphart '03 and Brigitte Frett '06 helped to organize the event.
According to Connolly, the organization did not have an easy time finding students to donate art, and the majority of the 45 to 50 pieces donated came from professional and local artists. Still, the auction is considered a success with only eight pieces remaining on Saturday when the auction closed.
"I thought the auction was so successful because of all the students and faculty who donated their art work and their time to help," Davies said.