Jimmy Carter Work Project Coming Up!

I can't believe how much things have changed for me. I remember when we first opened DirectBuy of Spokane, I wanted to find a way to support Habitat for Humanity. I had always contributed money periodically before Denise and I started the business. My first stab was to have some bottled waters made with custom labels that had Habitat for Humanity and DirectBuy of Spokane on them. My plan was to sell the water at a home show we were participating in. I thought since people bought water at the concession stands they would be happy to buy from us and support Habitat instead. Something didn't work right and I think we sold under 10 bottles.

We continuously gave to Habitat through our business over the coming months by donating any extra products we had to the Habitat store. Then we heard about the Blitz Build and started getting involved by donating specific items that would be installed in the Blitzt Build homes. Each year we were blessed to be able to contribute more and by year three we donated the entire lumber package, windows, flooring and more. That year we also added a special program to get our employees engaged by paying them 1/2 their normal hourly wage for any community service. To kick things into action, we worked with Habitat to have a DirectBuy of Spokane build day and we challenged our employees to join us. The project was a blast. We painted inside and out, some people helped do some trim work, others helped install dishwashers.

Last June we participated in our 4th Blitz Build and had a great turn-out by the staff. At the event was when we first learned that Habitat of Spokane was going to participate in the Jimmy Carter work project in Thailand or Cambodia or Laos (http://www.habitat.org/jcwp/2009/). They indicated they have limited volunteer spots available and asked if we would be interested in participating. Denise and I couldn't have been more excited. We love to travel and we love doing contribution work (that's a different story in itself).

Over the coming weeks, new information trickled in. By the end of August, things were pretty much locked in. The site we are going to is Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Well we're getting close now. Only about 1 month before we leave.

I hope you'll stay tuned to hear more about this amazing and worthwhile project. We plan to be posting periodically from now through the end of the trip (and maybe some more beyond that too :-) I also hope you'll take some time and look into Habitat for Humanity. It is one of my favorite charities because it goes beyond a hand-out. It is giving a hand up to people with significant challenges who are working directly on the project to build a better life for their family and future generations.