Students To Raise Money, House For Family In Need
March 13, 2001
University Park, Pa. — Members of Penn State Habitat for Humanity are committed to eliminating substandard housing. The students spend most weekends during the academic year building homes in the area with local affiliates, and this year, 145 students dedicated their spring break to building affordable housing throughout the United States with Habitat for Humanity International.

Now they want a project to call their own.

The students are determined to raise $40,000 and provide 100 percent of the labor needed to build a Habitat home in Centre County. “This is a chance for Penn State to give back to the community,” says senior Jeni Brake. “With 40,000 students, the potential to help families in need in Centre County is enormous.”

The slogan for the house project is "$40,000. 40,000 students. 1 house." Senior Pat Fitzgerald says if every student at the University Park campus would donate $1 to the project, they would have enough money to build their house. However, the members realize this may be difficult to achieve. Therefore, they will be organizing a number of fundraisers this spring to meet their goal. "If the full amount is raised by the end of the semester, construction of the house will begin in fall 2001," he says.

Fundraising projects will include a rent-a-worker program, which is an ongoing fundraiser where students do chores for community members in return for a donation. Habitat Week, to be held the week of March 11, will consist of a number of activities to publicize the house project and the need to eliminate poverty housing in central Pennsylvania. In addition, Tri-County Habitat for Humanity has agreed to donate funds raised by Penn State students for its annual 10K "House Walk" towards the project. 

Tri-County Habitat for Humanity has also agreed to donate a plot of land for the house once the money has been raised by the students. Sam Komlenic, a development assistant at Penn State and vice president of the Tri-County board, says the student chapter has become increasingly more important to Habitat's mission in this community. "Given the influence of the university in local affairs, and the number of students in attendance here, it is essential that Habitat for Humanity have strong representation within the student body."

Komlenic says his organization saw the students' efforts as part of the overall mission of Habitat for Humanity International. "With this project, the student chapter has the potential to expose people from many faiths, backgrounds, and places in the building process.  These people then will carry this experience with them, and perhaps feel the call to participate again at some point in their future."

**aen**

Contact:  Amy Neil, Department of Public Information, at (814) 865-7517 or aen4@psu.edu by e-mail.