Green gala: Irish-themed Skaneateles event supports Cayuga County Habitat for Humanity project
Cayuga County Habitat for Humanity is going green next month.
It has nothing to do with the construction of the new home that it is building for a local family — the first entirely new home the organization is building — but rather the fundraising efforts for that project.
To raise money to ensure that project is completed, the local Habitat for Humanity is scheduled to host Hooley for Habitat, a St. Patrick’s Day-themed “party with a purpose,” as Karen Young, the fundraising chair for CCHH, termed it.
The event is slated to take place from 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday, March 8 at the Welch Allyn Lodge in Skaneateles Falls. It will feature The Flyin’ Column Irish band and dancers from McDonald School of Irish Dance.
There will also be door prizes and a silent auction offering items from a variety of local businesses, including horseback riding lessons from Springerle Stables, a family sightseeing cruise from Mid-Lakes Navigation, a diamond necklace from Skaneateles Jewelry, gift certificates from Wegman’s and more.
The event calls for casual dress for those attending, and guests are encouraged to wear their wildest green get-ups. Hors d’oeuvres and grog are included, and the first two drinks are free. Desserts donated by the Patisserie will also be included.
Tickets cost $45 per person, and patron tables of eight people can be purchased for $500. Sponsors who buy a table will have their name featured on the table and in Habitat for Humanity communications.
The organization is still accepting donations for the event, and contributions made before March 1 will be included in the program.
Mike Lesch, the CCHH board president, said the organization hopes to raise a minimum of $5,000 through the event and said it would “go an enormous way toward finishing the project.”
“We’ve come a long way so far,” Lesch said. “This is a large fundraiser to finish that project and move forward with the next one.”
He said a board member donated the property on which the house is being built. Since CCHH’s inception in the early 1990s, the organization has completed around 15 homes, but those have all been rehabilitation projects while this home is the first new construction for CCHH.
“The family’s extremely excited. The board’s excited,” Lesch said, adding the family is a single mother with one child. “She calls asking questions every week. She’s incredibly thankful for being given this opportunity. … It makes it worthwhile.”
Shelly McConnell, the future homeowner, said she first applied for a home about five years ago but didn’t get accepted. This time around, she was successful when she applied again for this home.
“My best friend received a Habitat for Humanity home in Weedsport, so I started thinking that could apply to me,” McConnell said. “I’m really excited. It’s the first brand-new home, and it’s my home so that’s awesome.”
The home is nearly completed — construction started in November, and the hope is that it will be finished around June or July, Lesch said.
Each project takes about nine to 12 months from start to finish, he added, and while right now the organization does one project a year, its goal is to grow that to two projects a year.
While Lesch noted the family must put in at least 250 hours of labor in the construction, McConnell said she hasn’t been needed much since contractors have been working mainly on the outside of the house.
Once the work goes inside, though, McConnell said she is ready for the job.
“I imagine I’ll be painting, cleaning, helping, whatever they need done,” she said. “I’m excited to do that too.”
Tickets for Hooley for Habitat can be purchased by calling Lesch at (315) 730-4390 or Young at (315) 246-2269. Tickets will also be available at the door.
Anyone unable to attend but wishing to donate can mail checks payable to Cayuga County Habitat for Humanity to P.O. Box 1903, Auburn, NY 13021.
February 28, 2014 6:30 am • Jonathan Monfiletto | jonathan.monfiletto@lee.net
