Last month we wrote about how we were going to start volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, and we did. Last Saturday (October 11th) we worked on our first Habitat House.

We’ve been on a bit of a philanthropic binge lately, and have been volunteering all over town trying to get involved and improve the community.

It was pretty cool to see the different stages of homes in progress. There were seven homes being built on the same block, and the one we were working on was getting ready for the owners to move in on the 15th, only four days from the day we were there!

One thing that caught my eye was the sponsor of the homes – Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, a frequent sponsor of some of our favorite NPR shows including Marketplace.

At 9:00 we split off into groups, each assigned to a different teacher who would be working on a specific project. Ryan and I were assigned to finishing touches on the nearly done house. We cleaned things up and worked on seeding the yard. It was a lot of tough work, but the house looked really good at the end of the day. Other than a 45 minute break for lunch we worked non-stop until 4:30 – it was definitely tiring and a great workout. We both were sore for two days…

And we certainly plan on signing up to help out again. We met some great people and had fun working outside. I know that the people who will own these houses, and who work on them too, will really appreciate them. It’s a great cause and I think it really helps the communities where the homes are built.

We also have some good news to share: we have reached another milestone and can donate another portion of blog income to entrepreneurial and charity organizations!

Back in July we pledged 25% of blog income to different charities, and we have now reached a sizable amount to donate. We also have received payments from our Kiva entrepreneurs and will be reinvesting that money to sponsor a new person. So far both borrowers have paid on time without problem.

$25 will be donated to Flower City Habitat for Humanity.

$25 will be decide together tonight on the recipient and update the post then.

Ryan and I are really trying to get involved and make a difference. We enjoy living in Rochester, and want to help out as much as possible – every little bit helps, right?

There are many great things to do in Rochester that we haven’t explored yet and plan on doing soon. This weekend we went down to High Falls for the first time and saw the waterfalls down town. There are all these things to do around us, but only if we get involved and explore.

Related posts:

1. ‘Sweat Equity’ – Getting Involved With Habitat for Humanity
2. New sponsored Kiva entrepreneur: Thank you readers!
3. Why we closed Prosper.com and opened Kiva.org

Tagged as: giving back