UTC Students Volunteer With Big Build On Saturday

Friday, April 27, 2012

A group of students from University of Tennessee Chattanooga have volunteered to work on the homes of two widows in the Chattanooga area on Saturday. Volunteers are raising sponsorship for the day of work. All of the money raised will go toward the Lifesong School in Zambia.

Both Hands Foundation is a Nashville based, 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 2008 with a two-fold mission of serving widows through home improvements projects, while raising funds to help orphans.

Each project starts with a team of volunteers who work on a widow’s house. Most of the time it does light repair, painting, de-cluttering, cleaning and landscaping. The team of volunteers also sends letters to their contacts requesting sponsorship for the day while they work on the widow’s house.  It is very similar to asking people to sponsor a 5K race or golf event; however, with this project instead of playing, participants be working on a widow’s home.

Ms. Lois lost her husband 13 years ago. A series of storms left her yard with a significant amount of debris. Ms. Lynn lost her husband 10 years ago. She has worked to maintain her home; however, there are certain things that require assistance. Both widows were married to their husbands for nearly 48 years and have lived in their homes since the ‘60s. This team is going to serve these widows in a big way through home improvement and landscaping projects.

One of the goals for the UTC Big Build Project is to get all the supplies we need donated by local merchants and individuals. To donate supplies, please contact Keith McAfee at 402-0248.

To date, Both Hands has raised over $1,400,000, helped 156 widows, affected 172 orphans, enabled over 4200 people to serve a widow in their community, completed over 134 family projects raising funds for adoption, and eight Big Build projects similar to this one.

Monetary donations can be made online through the Both Hands Foundation website at http://BothHandsFoundation.org/UTCBigBuild.aspx.


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