Bonita Bay Habitat For Humanity: Fundraiser goal set at $160,000

The Bonita Bay Habitat for Humanity Steering Committee hosted a kickoff party on Wednesday, Jan. 18, to honor the 51 Neighborhood Captains and introduce staff from the Habitat for Humanity Lee County office, Mike Mansfield and Lee Combs.

Tom Lammert welcomed the group that has been successful with the fundraising for the Habitat Golf Outing Raffle. This year's golf outing will be on March 13 at the Bonita Bay Club. The goal this year is to raise $160,000 to fund the project of Raising More Roofs and fulfilling more dreams of home ownership.

Last year, 676 Bonita Bay residents participated in providing three families with new homes. Over the past three years, eight homes have been funded and built by Bonita Bay efforts.

The Let's Raise the Roof Raffle provides about half the funds needed to build the homes. Through the use of volunteer labor and donations of money and materials, the effort builds decent housing for working families. To qualify for a home, an applicant must be in need of housing, live or work in Lee County for at least 12 months, have the ability to pay a mortgage, earn 500 hours of "sweat equity," and attend classes to be a self-sufficient homeowner.

Habitat homes are sold at no profit to homeowners who make monthly, interest-free mortgage payments to Habitat. These payments are used to build more homes, making each donation a perpetual legacy to the community.