Dublin AAH Improves Fundraising Considerably

The Dublin Adopt-A-House, along with the Worthington and Clintonville/Beechwold groups, is working hard to finish a Habitat Home at 2811 E. 9th Avenue.  For Dublin AAH, established in 1996, it is their 14th house, and sixth house under the direction of House Lead, Jim Whitmer.  Noteworthy is that this group has not fallen complacent by virtue of its experience and success.  Instead of relying on donations from the group’s five member churches as has been done since their founding, they have organized a number of fundraising events this year to successfully raise $23,000!

The first, held on April 4th, was a very successful tennis party that raised $8000 at the newly built Elysium Tennis Club in Plain City.  124 participants received instruction from eight tennis pros and had plenty of opportunities for a competitive match!  For those who didn’t want to work up a sweat, a number of social activities were on tap with enough tables to encourage interaction.  A silent auction was ongoing including a number of autographed sports memorabilia. 

On May 22, the Dublin AAH hosted a four-man best ball scramble at Rolling Meadows golf course in Marysville and was the second year for this event.  Jim Whitmer, as planner, was able to round up enough golfers and hole sponsors to raise $5000.  For all 20 hole sponsors, Jim built a replica house with the business name.  After the outing, those small houses went to the businesses for display during the coming year.  This year’s scramble was won (coincidentally!) by a team led by Habitat’s construction director, Erik Lambert.

Later that same Memorial Day weekend, about 185 runners dashed through the streets of Dublin on their way to raising $10,000 for Habitat for Humanity.  Again, it was Rich Brown and Dave Altafar from Dublin AAH working with the Muirfield Civic Association and the Columbus Running Company to plan this event.  In addition, a number of local businesses sponsored this event.  To add some fun, the event also featured kids’ runs, a baby jogger contest, and ‘The Stiletto Sprint.’ 

These were only the most notable of the fundraising events Dublin AAH has held this year; other events included concerts, dance lessons, a car wash, and high canopy zip line tours in Hocking Hills State Park.  The Dublin AAH includes volunteers from Dublin Presbyterian, Jerome United Methodist, New Hope Reformed, Prince of Peace Lutheran, and St. Brigid of Kildare and each church has a representative on the group’s executive board.  To help schedule these events, as well as of all the group’s meetings and build days, they use meetup.com, a website that makes it easy for groups to self-organize.

Habitat for Humanity – Greater Columbus is proud to see its Adopt-a-House groups passionately support us in our mission to end substandard housing.  Dublin AAH is doing so, not just by building, but with fundraising, advocacy, and education as well!