DRESDEN VOLUNTEERS HELP BUILD MRI HOME

JOHN PHAIR

Dresden Leader

With good organization, loads of community spirit and the help of about 400 skilled volunteers, a 1,900- square-foot ranch-style home was built in just 39 hours last Thursday and Friday.

The project was a funidraising event hosted
by the Chatham-Kent Home Builders Association with proceeds from the sale of the home going to the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance Foundation's MRI campaign.

From foundation to finished product in 39 hours and that included sprinklers, sod and landscaping,"said Dave Depencier of Dresden, who co-ordinated the skilled trades and labour for the project.

Member of board

Depencier, who is on the board of the Chatham-Kent Home Builders Association and owns Depencier Builders Limited, pointed out that he didn't know the exact number of trades people on site, but guessed it to be 200 to 250, along with about 150 volunteers who helped clean up and serve refreshments.

He also emphasized that more than a few of those volunteers were from Dresden.

"It was just a lot of good spirit, you had to be there to experience the feeling,everyone was just so proud to he there," he said.

"Everyone pulled together as a team."

Depencier said he was proud to see people from Dresden working on the project, noting that the Kinsmen provided a great service to the project by serving meals to the volunteers.

"They did a great job and it was really good of them to do that," he said.

He also noted that Brad Brooker of Brooker Painting from Dresden was involved, as well as volunteers from the Dresden Rotary.

"I would personally like to thank the volunteers from Dresden, it was nice to see people from my own com- munity get involved in the project, it really meant a lot to me," he said.

'It was really an emotional event that took place and it was amazing to be part of it."

He noted that co-ordinating that many volunteers required a lot of planning, a lot of which began last January.

"We were just ecstatic to see how well it all came together ... it was even better than we anticipated and I think a lot of that was due to the excitement with everyone involved," he said.

'Good feeling'

"To have that many people involved and to have things go that well, you know there had to be a good feeling in the air

"The house has been listed with Royal LePage Piefer Realty at a price of $385,000 and is expected to sell quickly.

Depencier said whoever buys the home will be getting an excellent deal.

"I'm guessing that with all the extras and upgrades that house would be worth $420,000 to $450,00," he said.

EnergyStar home

In addition he said its an EnergyStar Quality Home, meaning it is built to standards that surpass those of the building code and is more energy efficient.

"And even though it was built in just 39 hours, it was done by best builders and tradesmen in Chatham-Kent," he said.

"It was built by the best of the best working together so nothing got missed."

The lot and all building materials were donated to the project and Depencier pointed out that most of the donations came from local businesses.

Depencier said that in addition to boosting the MRI campaign, he thinks that working together with his fellow contractors brought Chatham-Kent's home builders closer together as an organization.

"Even though we are competitors we are all great friends and I think that is important," he said.