Habitat for Humanity Leader Speaks to Lions

By Theron Womble

The Sanford Lions gathered for their weekly supper meeting on March 18. As they enjoyed baked spaghetti for their main course, Lion Bob Nelson quizzed the members on their knowledge of the census. President Richard Henley reminded members of upcoming events and also updated everyone on the health concerns of those not present.

Jim Romine reported that golfers and hole sponsors are registering for the 5^th annual golf tournament to be held at Quail Ridge Golf Course. Tee time will be 8:30 am on June 5^th. Guest for the evening included Bob Chase and Tucker Mann. Billy Miller led the club in the pledge of allegiance to the flag. Johnny Poindexter opened the meeting with the invocation and introduced Gary Wicker, who spoke to the club about Habitat for Humanity.

Mr. Wicker is the affiliated director for Habitat and a life long resident of Lee County. In this part time position one of his responsibilities is securing funds for the building projects. One such project under way presently is a partnership between Lee County Schools, CCCC, and Habitat and is funded by the Golden Leaf Foundation. High school students are working after school on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and on Saturday mornings to complete this building project at 224 Popular Street. When finished the house will be equipped with a solar hot water heater and meet all criteria needed to qualify as a “green house”.

Many businesses located in and out of Lee County donate building materials to Habitat. These donations plus the profits from the Habitat Home Store located on North Horner Boulevard play a major role in offsetting the expense of building a home.

Habitat for Humanity which was founded in 1976, organized in Lee County in 1989 through the efforts of Mary Bass and Carolyn Turner. Habitat is in sixty-five countries and its Disaster Response division is currently helping out in Haiti and Chile. Mr. Wicker stated that not only does Habitat build houses, it builds relationships.