Habitat for Humanity Northumberland have set a high bar for fundraising this season as they complete one successful campaign and launch 3 others. With two house moves and renovations that near completion by the end of year, the fundraising team at Habitat Northumberland is hard at work to ensure that there are enough funds to support these builds. “$50,000 is a high goal, but we have already received 60% of that goal, so we are encouraged as we have made it over halfway there,” says Executive Director Meaghan Macdonald.
On Wednesday October 13th, Macdonald and Community and Fund Development Coordinator, Melissa Cranston, announced that not only did Habitat Northumberland meet their goal of $15,000 for their Finish-A-Home campaign, but they also exceeded it. The final donation count for this campaign came in at $17,735, which is money that is all earmarked for specific finishes for two current builds. Donors could choose from a shopping list of items to donate funds towards, including toilets, windows, and flooring. “We are always so blown away by our community,” explains Macdonald. “We put an ask out there and we are never disappointed.”
In the next two weeks, Habitat Northumberland is set launch not 1, but 3 campaigns to help fund the building program. On October 25th, the 7th annual Gingerbread Festival gets underway. This is a completely virtual event where participants register online with a building permit and have the option to purchase a prefab gingerbread house kit or make their own and showcase at their house or place of business. Habitat Northumberland is thrilled to announce that this year there is title sponsor for this event. Jacqueline Pennington has stepped forward to contribute $2,000 towards the overall goal of $7,000 goal.
Participants have until November 19th to create their gingerbread house and submit a photo to organizer Melissa Cranston at mcranston@habitatnorthumberland.ca to 1 of 3 categories – Professional, Community and Community Entry under 12. On November 24th, all entrants to the festival will be showcased on the Habitat Northumberland website and the rest of the community has an opportunity to vote for their favourite. Each vote is $5, which goes towards our building program. On December 9th, the voting closes and on December 14th, the winners with the most votes from each category will be announced and all those who placed a vote will be entered into a draw to win a prize.
For the second campaign on October 31st Habitat Northumberland will launch the anniversary campaign. The 23 for 23 in 23 anniversary campaign looks to raise $23,000 for their 23 anniversary, in 23 days. Sponsors of the campaign can choose between Elite sponsorship at $2,500, Full day sponsor at $1000 or Half Day Sponsor at $500. All sponsors are recognized on the Habitat website, as well as on their social media channels. “We still have some spaces for sponsorship for this event so anyone interested, please contact Melissa Cranston at mcranston@habitatnorthumberland.ca or call 289-252-0999 x 29,” explains Macdonald.
Finally, Habitat Northumberland will debut their first ever Cookbook at the Port Hope Makers Market on November 6th and 7th, just in time for Christmas. Homemade is a labour of love that grew out of a need for partner families to obtain sweat equity hours, necessary prior to homeownership, when they were unable to volunteer due to pandemic restrictions. This fundraising project involved volunteers, staff and partner families who contributed over 75 pages of homemade recipes. Habitat staff will be on hand at the Lion’s Centre in Port Hope from 10am-4pm on November 6 & 7 selling this great cookbook for $25, which incidentally makes a great stocking stuffer or gift. It will also be available for purchase at the Cobourg ReStore and online at www.habitatnorthumberland.ca. Proceeds for this fundraiser goes towards Habitat’s building fund.
For more information on any of these campaigns, please contact Melissa Cranston (mcranston@habitatnorthumberland.ca, 289-252-0999 ext. 29).
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
