Professional Builders Help Build or Improve 200 Homes in One Week with Habitat for Humanity

ATLANTA, June 8, 2017 /3BL Media/ - Habitat for Humanity is bringing together professional builders this summer for its Home Builders Blitz. Presented by Ply Gem, the event is a weeklong effort to build and improve homes across the U.S. During June 5-9, more than 200 families will partner with Habitat across 28 states to build or repair a place they can call home.

As part of the build week, Habitat recruits and partners with professional builders who provide labor, funding and materials, giving local Habitat organizations the capacity to partner with more families. For the second consecutive year, Ply Gem, a North American manufacturer of building products, is the presenting sponsor for Habitat's Home Builders Blitz.

“Home Builders Blitz is truly a testament to the willingness of local builders to invest in their communities,” said Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International. “When professional homebuilders donate their time, skills, funding and materials, it allows us to exponentially increase our work, maximize our efforts and partner with even more homeowners. We are so grateful for their support and the positive ripple effects they have made in our communities.”          

Habitat’s Home Builders Blitz originated in Raleigh in 2002, when local builder Tom Gipson recruited 12 homebuilders to donate their time to build five houses in five days. Since then, more than 2,000 builders in 300 communities have participated in Home Builders Blitz.

“At Ply Gem, we’ve taken our nearly 75 years of experience creating homebuilding products that make beautiful homes, and turned it into our mission, through the Home for Good project,” says Gary E. Robinette, chairman and CEO, Ply Gem. “And, we believe it’s our role as a leader to make the entire building industry aware of the positive impact that affordable housing has on local families and communities.”

Ply Gem's presenting sponsorship of Habitat's Home Builders Blitz is one component of the Home for Good project – a multi-year initiative that includes the donation of more than $1 million of exterior building products and funds to support Habitat’s vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to call home. Three-time Grammy Award winner Darius Rucker is partnering with Ply Gem and as the project's ambassador, he will participate in a build and help dedicate a Rutherford County Habitat for Humanity home outside of Nashville, Tennessee.

Additional Home Builders Blitz support comes from Martin Marietta, The Blue Book Building and Construction Network, Huber Engineered Woods, Masco Corporation, Columbia Forest Products and Gildan.

For more information about Habitat's Home Builders Blitz, please visit http://www.habitat.org/homebuildersblitz.

About Habitat for Humanity

Driven by the vision that everyone needs a decent place to live, Habitat for Humanity began in 1976 as a grassroots effort on a community farm in southern Georgia. The Christian housing organization has since grown to become a leading global nonprofit working in more than 1,300 communities throughout the U.S. and in more than 70 countries. Families and individuals in need of a hand up partner with Habitat for Humanity to build or improve a place they can call home. Habitat homeowners help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage. Through financial support, volunteering or adding a voice to support affordable housing, everyone can help families achieve the strength, stability and self-reliance they need to build better lives for themselves. Through shelter, we empower. To learn more, visit habitat.org.

About Ply Gem Building Products

Ply Gem, headquartered in Cary, N.C., is a leading manufacturer of exterior building products in North America. Ply Gem produces a comprehensive product line of windows and patio doors, vinyl and aluminum siding and accessories, designer accents, cellular PVC trim and mouldings, vinyl fencing and railing, stone veneer and gutterware, used in both new construction and home repair and remodeling in the United States and Canada. Visit www.plygem.com for more information.

About Darius Rucker

Rucker first attained multi-platinum status in the music industry as former lead singer and rhythm guitarist of Grammy Award-winning Hootie & the Blowfish. Since re-introducing himself to the world as a country artist, he has released four consecutive albums to top the Billboard Country albums chart and earned a whole new legion of fans. In 2014, Rucker won his third career Grammy Award for Best Solo Country Performance for his quadruple-platinum selling cover of Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel,” off his album “True Believers.” Rucker’s first two country albums “Learn To Live” and “Charleston, SC 1966” produced five No. 1 singles, including “Come Back Song,” “This,” “Alright,” “It Won’t Be Like This For Long” and “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It.” “Southern Style,” his fourth studio country album, features his latest No. 1 single “Homegrown Honey,” co-written by Rucker, label mate Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum and Nathan Chapman. After wrapping his 2016 “Good for a Good Time” tour, Rucker released his heartfelt Top five-and-climbing single, “If I Told You,” to country radio. For more information and tour dates visit www.dariusrucker.com.