We are honored by the encouragement of our community and want you to know about the great work your support has accomplished.

Despite a time of economic hardship, Athens Area Habitat was able to expand our services and broaden our impact. This steady expansion and ever growing list of families served is not only a testament to the vital role of our programs, but also a demonstration of the dedication our community has to positive change.

We have great plans for 2010 including beginning a new Habitat neighborhood of seven homes, an apartment complex renovation that will provide affordable housing options to a currently underserved income bracket, expanded events, and much more.

Consider making a tax deductible donation to Athens Area Habitat for Humanity to celebrate the accomplishments of 2009 and encourage the development of 2010. Together, we can impact our community in a significant way.

Athens Area Habitat wishes you well as we move into the New Year and look forward to working in partnership to better our community one family at a time.

Upcoming Events:

• Committee of 1,000 Celebration: January 28, 2010 (6:30pm – 8:30pm). Join the Committee of 1,000 to attend. Don’t forget to RSVP by January 20, 2010!
• Home Is Where The Heart Is Art Auction: February 18, 2010 (5:30pm – 7:30pm)
• Home & Garden Show: February 27 & 28, 2010
• Run/Walk for Home 5K: April 2, 2010

2009 Year In Review:

• Committee of 1,000: Built the first ever Committee of 1,000 Home, which was partially funded by the members of the 2008 and 2009 supporters. The Rahming Family thanks all the Committee of 1,000 Members for making their home a reality!
• Won Most Original Float in the Downtown Parade of Lights
• Began work on Carpenter’s Circle development, with home construction to begin February 2010.
• Completed first ReHOUSE project
• Initiated ReNew Athens
• The Silver & Archibald Run/Walk for Home 5k presented in partnership with the Athens Area Homeless Shelter raised over $8,000 towards a new home.
• The EHARP completed 17 ramps.
• A Brush With Kindness completed 10 emergency home repairs.
• The 2nd Annual Move to Improve Block Party brought together community members and organizations to celebrate National Homeownership Month
• Athens Area Habitat participated in the Community Service Expo offering new service opportunities and cultivating approximately 200 interested volunteers
• Athens Area Habitat celebrated 21 years of serving the community with a benefit show.
• The (k)larity Group Race for the Dream 5k engaged over 200 participants in supporting the affordable housing mission
• The 2nd Annual Jittery Joe’s Fall Classic Century expanded into a Fall Festival with a festival, vendors, and more.
• Partnerships created with: H&R Block, Housing for Housing, Athens Transit, Fairway Outdoor Advertising, Loran Smith Center for Cancer Support, Comcast, Tate Print & Copy , Sigma Chi
• First Annual ReStore Commercial Contest resulted in many creative entries and two featured commercials.
• Congratulations to our 2009 Habitat Homeowners: Diala Rahming, Katrina Smith, Kendra Beck, and Tina Steele
• A dynamic workforce of over 3,000 volunteers utilized throughout the year

Well it was back out to Howard Dr to finish up a few details on a combo wheel chair Ramp / Brush with Kindness project. Stacey (a long time NC HFH regular) and Mike (a soon to be Athens HFH regular) replaced a wooden porch which surely would have been a health hazard if left to rott much longer. I watched from a distance as they calculated rises, runs, landing distance and compound angled cuts. You would have thought they had been building stairs their entire careers! Way to set the bar for your future Habitat assignments guys... Thanks for coming out in the cold and slush to make a real difference in someone else's life.

Winter Solstice Monday: Facts on First Day of Winter

Monday is the winter solstice and the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. It's all due to Earth's tilt, which ensures that the shortest day of every year falls around December 21. But it's not all about astronomy.

During the winter solstice the sun hugs closer to the horizon than at any other time during the year, yielding the least amount of daylight annually. On the bright side, the day after the winter solstice marks the beginning of lengthening days leading up to the summer solstice.

"Solstice" is derived from the Latin phrase for "sun stands still."

The solstices occur twice a year (around December 21 and June 21), because Earth is tilted by an average of 23.5 degrees as it orbits the sun—the same phenomenon that drives the seasons.

During the warmer half of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, the North Pole is tilted toward the sun. The northern winter solstice occurs when the "top" half of Earth is tilted away from the sun at its most extreme angle of the year. But, though the winter solstice is essentially the darkest day of the year, it's not the coldest.

Read more about the Winter Solstice here.

(by Brian Handwerk for National Geographic News)

Build Site Update 12/19:

The build is still on! Please delay your arrival until 10am tomorrow.

Call the office with any questions regarding the build.

GoodSearch for Athens Area Habitat!

What if Athens Area Habitat earned a donation every time you searched the Internet? It can!

GoodSearch.com is a Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up!

Just go to www.goodsearch.com and be sure to enter Athens Area Habitat for Humanity as the charity you want to support. And, be sure to spread the word!

ReStore Hot Item of the Week:

This dining table and chair set are a match made in heaven! The chairs are still wrapped and the glass table shines like new! This table and chair set will modernize any kitchen or dining room!

Come on and check it out!

Mention this posting and receive 10% off. Please visit
Athens Habitat ReStore to check on item's availability.
We are located at 532 Barber Street (across from the tracks)
Athens, GA 30603

When it gets near the end of a build, it's always a challenge to effectively employ 13 hard working, horse riding carpenters. As fast as I could come up with a task, the UGA equestrian team completed it (and correctly I might add). We cleaned the lot, sorted the lumber pile, finished the siding, added decking and railing to the porch, graded for proper drainage and generally got the house to its final form. After Bo gets a driveway and some plants in the ground over the next few weeks, this one will have a fork stuck in it. Thanks go out to McAllisters Deli for supplying the yummy sustenance for Saturday's build!

--Tom

Athens Area Habitat wins Most Original Float at the Downtown Parade of Lights!

Thank you to the volunteers who helped with this fun project!

The Annual Holiday Benevolence Market will be held on Sunday, Dec. 6 from noon to 3 p.m. at First Christian Church in downtown Athens-Clarke County. It's a free event where 'shoppers' can go from booth to booth and make donations to various organizations in the community. It's a great one-stop shop if you're thinking about giving back during the holidays.

The Athens Annual Holiday Benevolence Market brings together 13 area congregations and more than 30 local non-profit agencies in a collaborative effort to raise funds, increase awareness and spread holiday cheer throughout the community.

UGA Habitat for Humanity presents the 10th Annual Turkey Trot 5K Run/Walk:

Saturday, December 5, 2009 at 9:00 AM

Registration: Race Day registration is $20 per person. There will only be a limited supply of
shirts for late and race day registration so arrive early. Packet pick up begins at 8:00 AM.

Where: Stegeman Coliseum parking lot, UGA Campus

Course: Start and Finish located at Stegeman Coliseum. Course on UGA Campus, contains paved roads. Course map available race day.

Refreshments: Provided after the race.

Questions: Contact Justin Bargeron by email at jb2020@uga.edu

Proceeds benefit UGA Habitat for Humanity

Join us tonight at 7:00pm for the Downtown Parade of Lights.

Come see Athens Area Habitat’s float (and many others) which supports this year’s theme of “A Gift from the Heart.”

Annually, more than 60 entries compete for such prizes as "Most Original Float," "Best Use of Theme," and "Best Use of Lights." The award,"Most Spirited!" is judged during the parade itself, and the best overall float will receive the "Mayor's Award."

The parade begins on the corner of Dougherty and Pulaski Streets ending in front of City Hall for the traditional tree lighting ceremony, hosted by none other than Santa and Mrs. Claus.

The results are in! Thank you to everyone who submitted an entry to the 1st Annual Athens Habitat for Humanity Restore Commercial Contest! We were thrilled with the participation and all of the creative entries, but there can only be one winner. Based on student voting, the results are:

1st place: "Habitat Hunt"

2nd place: "Be Our Guests"

3rd place: "Superheroes"