"Nickels For Nails" Campaign Empowers Local Youth To Help Sponsor A Habitat For Humanity Home

    LOS ANGELES, CA, April 05, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles will kick off its annual youth fundraising campaign "Nickels for Nails" on April 18th. The award-winning program will run through May 15th and empower youth ages 5 to 25 to collect spare change from friends, family and the community in an effort to raise $150,000, the amount needed to build a Habitat home in Los Angeles. Money raised will fund the organization's second youth-sponsored home to be built in the city of Lywnood. The first youth-sponsored home was completed in July 2009 in partnership with DaJuan Osborne, a single mother of two, who helped build her home.

"Our 'Nickels for Nails' program is a powerful way to educate youth about the affordable housing crisis and empower them to make a difference," says Erin Rank, President and CEO of Habitat for Humanity GLA. "Not only do their efforts raise awareness, but they are actually raising walls. It's an incredibly rewarding process that involves fundraising for the home, building the home, getting to know the family personally and presenting the family with the key to their new home."

The program is open to young people ages 5 to 25 throughout the Greater Los Angeles area. Groups and individuals may participate by collecting change and setting up their own online fundraising pages. Branded stickers are available to participants who reuse large water and soda bottles as collection containers in an effort to stay "green". The group or individual that raises the most money during the campaign will be awarded a pizza party for up to 25 people and, if age 16 or older, the opportunity to build with HFH GLA at a 10-home neighborhood currently under construction in the city of Lynwood.

Participating youth get the opportunity to see first-hand how collecting spare change can make a life-altering difference for a family in need. Funds will be used to sponsor the second local "House that Youth Built" which will be located in the Imperial Hwy neighborhood currently under construction in the city of Lynwood. This 10-home neighborhood is being built to the USGBC's LEED Silver certifications, and will be the first homes to achieve LEED certification in the city of Lynwood. Habitat for Humanity homes that are LEED certified help reduce utility expenses for homeowners and promote additional energy for the community grid.

In 2009, Habitat for Humanity International recognized "Nickels for Nails" with the Clarence Jordan award as part of the house-building ministry's annual "Pioneers in Excellence" program. Students, parents, teachers and youth group leaders interested in joining the fight against sub-standard housing and participating in this year's "Nickels for Nails" fundraiser are encouraged to visit the Habitat for Humanity GLA website or contact Melissa Killian, Youth Programs Coordinator at 310-323-4663 ext 109 or e mail [email protected].

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles strives to eliminate poverty housing through advocacy, education and partnership with families in need to build simple, decent, affordable and sustainable housing. Since 1990, HFH GLA has built and renovated over 600 homes locally and worldwide, transforming the lives of hundreds of individuals. HFH GLA is a GuideStar Valued Partner. For more information, visit http://www.habitatla.org or call 310-323-4663.

# # #