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Wednesday, May 11, 2005 | ||
SFM seeks volunteers for Blitz Build of new home for Ms. BThis Junes building blitz by Square Foot Ministry (SFM) will be a home for Mrs. Bertha Ballard of Gay, custodian at Peeples Elementary School in south Fayette County for six years. Providence United Methodist church will host a kick-off dinner in the dining hall Friday, June 3 at 6 p.m. for all volunteers. Providence will be the lead church for the project with Jeff Williams as chairman of the steering committee. The SFM Board has completed several homes and projects throughout the area working with local churches and other service and volunteer organizations. Ms. B, as Ballard is affectionately known, is respected and loved by the 833 students and the entire faculty and staff of Peeples. She is a well-known resident of Gay, in Meriwether County, where she has lived for 37 years. Ballard is an active member of Mount Venus Baptist Church in Gay. Ballard attended Woodbury High School and then married A.C. Ballard. They were married for 43 years and had 10 children, 13 grandchildren, and two great grandchildren. For the past several years, Mr. Ballard was very ill, and Mrs. Ballard was his primary caretaker. On Jan. 26, 2005, she received a call from her daughter, Glory, that her home of 37 years was in flames. Not only did she lose her home, but also her husband was unable to make it out of the house and died in the fire. She is now living with Glory, and says she has relied on the support of her close-knit family, her friends, her faith and her Peeples family to make it through each day. The students from Peeples Elementary have collected approximately $12,000 toward the building of their friends new home. Homes built by SFM are built in a blitz with the entire project completed in one week. Materials for typical homes cost approximately $50,000 dollars. SFM, joined by local churches, schools and businesses, raises the money needed to purchase materials for the project. Volunteers provide labor, for both labor and administrative work. Square Foot Ministries is a 401c3 non-profit organization. It is a 100 percent volunteer organization with no paid administrative staff. Those who would like to volunteer to work June 4 thru June 11 on the Blitz Build are asked to sign the volunteer sheet located on the Web site, www.squarefootministry.com. Those who would like to make a contribution, are asked to mail checks to P. O. Box 371, Fayetteville, GA. For donations of materials or for questions, call 770-329-7736. SFM holds a non-interest bearing note designated to repay the capital used to build the house. As the repayment is collected, SFM uses it to fund repairs, improvements, and build other homes in the community. For more information regarding SFM, visit the Web site at www.squarefootministry.com. |
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