Thanks To….

Honeywell employees, family and friends – On July 28th, Rebuilding Together Twin Cities teamed up with Honeywell to host their annual Honeywell Family Day at the historic Gibbs Farm!  Nearly 100 volunteers of all ages came together for a day of hard work, food and fun.  Volunteers repaired fencing and landscaped around the farm.  Thanks again to everyone who volunteered that day!

The Home Depot Foundation and Frederickson & Byron Volunteer Team – The Home Depot Foundation recently sponsored home repairs for a veteran of the U.S. Airforce named Carl and his wife, Gloria.  More than 20 volunteers from Frederickson & Byron partnered with Rebuilding Together Twin Cities on July 11th to make these repairs, which included removing carpeting and installing wood laminate flooring; removing broken patio pavers and installing new pavers; moving a ceiling light fixture; cleaning the carpet; repairing the shower drain; repairing the sidewalk; and patching the foundation.  Thanks to the Home Depot Foundation and the Frederickson & Byron Volunteer Team!

Volunteers from Honeywell and Robbinsdale Cooper High School Make a Difference at the Oliver H. Kelley Farm

On May 17th, we partnered with more than 200 volunteers from Honeywell and Robbinsdale Cooper High School who descended on the Oliver H. Kelley Farm in Elk River to jump-start a major landscape restoration project.  The Kelley Farm is both a National Historic Landmark and Minnesota Historical Society site.  Volunteers replaced nearly a mile of fencing, cleared brush from 2.5 miles of trails, and repaired, built and painted 40 picnic tables.

“The landscape restoration project is something we would not have been able to do without this massive infusion of volunteers,” said Bob Quist, Oliver H. Kelley Farm historical site manager. “Fencing was the most labor-intensive activity for a farmer in the 19th century. This project gave volunteers a taste of history – and the satisfaction of work that will have a long-term impact on the community and the thousands of people who visit the farm every year.”

The project was the culmination of a year-long partnership between Honeywell and the high school’s Cooper Cares program, which challenges its student body to complete 10,000 hours of community service. Thousands of hours of student volunteer work, which also included an elementary school reading program and food shelf drive, were completed in partnership with Honeywell and its Honeywell Hometown Solutions corporate citizenship initiative.  This project also marks the 16th project completed locally through Rebuilding Together Twin Cities’ partnership with Honeywell.

Thank you to Honeywell and Robbinsdale Cooper High School for making this project a huge success!

 

National Rebuilding Day Was a Huge Success!

Thanks again to the hundreds of volunteers who braved the rain to help 25 families in need on April 28th for National Rebuilding Day!  Thanks to your efforts, we were able to help homeowners like Erin, a proud owner of her Camden Neighborhood home.  Erin’s grandson recently began living with her, and because of the expense of taking care of him, she is not able to afford repairs to her home.  In her thank you note to the volunteers who worked with her, Erin wrote, “Thank you for allowing my house to become more of a home.”

We would also like to thank U.S. Senator Al Franken, who came out to meet volunteers and one of the homeowners we helped that day, as well as MN Housing Commissioner Mary Tingerthal, State Senator Linda Higgins, State Representative Bobby Joe Champion, Minneapolis City Council Member Don Samuels, and Rebecca Lucero from Congressman Keith Ellison’s office.

Finally, we would like to thank our sponsors and partners for National Rebuilding Day, including Wells Fargo, Builders Association of the Twin Cities Foundation, Honeywell, MidCountry Bank, US Bank, On Site Sanitation, Valspar, Catholic United Financial, Lowe’s, Caribou Coffee, Subway, CitiCargo & Storage, Target, The Big Day of Serving, Dunwoody College of Technology, Tree Trust, Mortenson Construction, Ironwood Carpentry, Neighborhood Improvement Program, American Public Media, Coca-Cola, Cookie Cart, Webster/Windsor Insulation and ABC Supply Company.

Remembering 9/11

On September 10th, more than 250 volunteers joined Rebuilding Together Twin Cities and HandsOn Twin Cities to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11.  Senator Amy Klobuchar spoke at the event, along with Brian Dunn, Best Buy CEO, and Kathleen West, civic leader.

Volunteers spent the morning cleaning and polishing tribute markers along Victory Memorial Drive; gardening at Loring Elementary School; planting trees and shrubs at Theodore Wirth Park; drawing and writing on a Freedom Banner; and writing letters to the troops.

The volunteer event on 9/10 was the culmination of a larger initiative by Rebuilding Together Twin Cities and HandsOn Twin Cities to engage 1,000 volunteers to provide critical home repairs and services for 30 families in need, including several veterans and their families.

Thanks again to everyone who was able to join us and a huge thank you to sponsors of projects connected with this event, including Ameriprise Financial, CB Richard Ellis, GLS Companies, Honeywell, Minnesota Timberwolves FastBreak Foundation, Mosaic Company, Sears Heroes at Home, and Wells Fargo; and sponsors of the commemoration event, including the HandsOn Network, Best Buy, and Target.