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Shelton-Mason County Journal
Courtesy photo
Thanks to Habitat for Humanity of Mason
County and their own efforts, the Morris
family are now homeowners in Shelton's
Timberlakes neighborhood. Moving in last
month were Michele and Keith Morris, their
4-year-old son Dayton, and their 2-year-old
twin daughters Jordyn and Jenna.
By GORDON WEEKS tion Laboratory, and she had left her
gordon@masoncounty.eom job when she was pregnant with the
twins.
"There was stress: 'Wow, these bills
Homeless people slept under the are coming to so much - can we afford
apartment building's external stair- it?'" she said.
well, pressed up against the ground-lev- The Morris family's fortunes were
el window of the bedroom that housed transformed last month when they
Keith and Michele Morris's toddler son moved into their own home in Shelton's
and l-month-old twin daughters. Mold Timberlakes neighborhood, thanks to
flourished in the dilapidated Shelton Habitat for Humanity of Mason County
apartment, the bathtub wouldn't drain and their own efforts. The 20th house
properly and the toilet constantly over- constructed by the non-profit organiza-
flowed, tion features three bedrooms, one bath-
"It was all we could afford," said Mi- room and a laundry room.
chele, a Mason County resident since Suddenly, there is less stress, Mi-
age 7. chele said.
The family improved their lot by"Now we don't ha~e to worry about
mowng into a rental home owned by Mi- moving, ever," she said. Her husband is
chele's grandfather, but the house was now in the 11th month of his new job at
poorly insulated. Dayton, 3, couldn't Taylor Shellfish.
stay warm sleeping in the den, and had The family represents the ideal Hab-
to share a bedroom with his siblings, itat beneficiary, said Christine Roha,
Jordyn and Jenna. affiliate manager of Habitat for Hu-
And then there were the money mat- inanity of Mason County.
ters. said Michele. Her husband had "The thing that I like about the Mor-
been laid off first from Mason County rises is they show how having a house
Forest Products and then Sims Vibra- really affects your life, she said.
Habitat for Humanity of Mason
County is a faith-based housing minis-
try that partners with the community
to improve, maintain and build quality
housing for those in need. Since 1996,
the Mason County chapter has worked
with 20 families with 54 children to put
them in their own houses, while reha-
bilitating many other structures.
The Morris home was built through
a partnership with Thrivent Financial
for Lutherans and their alliance, Thri-
vent Builds with Habitat for Human-
ity. The organization provided 55 per-
cent of the funding for the Morris house
through a grant and donations. Faith
Lutheran Church in Shelton raised al-
most $11,000 for the house and donated
many volunteer hours.~
The Morrises chose the colors of paint
for their house, as well as the cabinets,
countertops, flooring and appliances.
"It truly felt like we went through a
contractor," Michele said.
The family also contributed 200 hours
of "sweat equity" alongside friends and
See Habitat on page B-6
WHAT'SCOOKIN'
Nice work,
Block party collects
550 pounds of food
for Saint's Pantry
By NATALIE JOHNSON
natalie@mas°nc°unty'c°rn
Through good times and bad,
the Saint's Pantry Food Bank
has provided food to struggling
Mason County families.
Lately, donations have been
slow, threatening the food
bank's backpack program for
local school children in need of
weekend meals.
When Father Joe Mikel of
St. David of Wales Episcopal
Church in Shelton found out
about the food bank's dilemma,
he coordinated a community
block par~y to raise funds and
donations for the food bank.
On Saturday, multiple com-
munity and church organiza-
tions came together to make
that block party a reality. They
collected almost 550 pounds of
food for the food bank.
The event was free to the
public, but attendees were en-
couraged to bring a non-perish-
able food item.
Saint's Pantry Executive
Director Steve Russell said
the block party was all Mikel's
idea.
"St. David's initiated it. Fa-
ther Joe (Mikel) came to us and
said he wanted to have a block
party and wanted us to be the
recipient." he said. "Anything
is a help." .
Local band The Varmints
performed and donated a
rare guitar to a raffle to earn
money for the food bank. Area
churches and United Way of
Mason County had booths at
the event.
The block party included
crafts for children, a bouncy
house, food and games and a
dunk tank.
Russell said donations to
the food bank can usually meet
the demand for food on Tues-
day and Wednesday mornings,
when it is open to the public.
However, other programs are
in jeopardy.
Journa photo oy Natahe Johnson
Lexi Fuller, 5, and her grandmother Julie Lofgren participate in a craft table
at Saturday's community block party hosted by the St. David of Wales
Episcopal Church in partnership with other community organizations and
area churches. The event raised money and danations for the Saint's Pantry
See Party on page B-6 Food Bank.
Thursday, Seot,
Igebra
students
Congratulations to Connie Bing-
ham and her Algebra I students
who graduated last year from
Pioneer School. Ninety-five percent of
them passed, so now, as high school
freshman, they are enrolled in a sopho-
more algebra class. Good going guys
and gals!
It is the garden club's season to
shine. The Harstine Island Garden
Club welcomes members and guests
at 7 p.m. tonight for its meeting at the
Harstine Community Club. Come and
learn how to make
hard cider!
I know I talked
about pie last week,
but just in case you
missed it, Sept. 29 is
a day when we can
have our pie and eat
it, too! The inaugn-
By DANIEL ral Harstine Island
Community Club's
FRISHMAN "Pie Contest" is sure
to please. So bakers,
pull out your award-winning pie recipes
and bring your pie (no entry fee) to be
judged at the Community Hall. Drop off
your pie from 9-11 a.m. Judging begins
at noon. The winning pie baker will re-
ceive a $100 cash prize and a beautiful
plaque. Once judging is complete, the
pie feast begins! You can either buy a
slice or an entire pie. All proceeds ben-
efit the Harstine Community Club. If
you have questions about the contest
please call Bill Shoaf at 670-9645.
Don't miss the final Saturdays of the
Harstine Island Farmers Market. Only
five more left. Also, mark your calen-
dar for the annual Apple Squeeze on
the closing day of the market, Oct. 13.
There will be no Community Emergen-
cy Response Team (CERT) training this
month. Next training is set for Oct. 3.
Drew MacEwen, the president of the
Mason County Chamber of Commerce,
was the guest speaker recently at the
Pioneer Kiwanis Club. He spoke about
the many activities of the local cham-
ber and various issues affecting the
Shelton and Mason County business
c.ommunities. Some information that I
found particularly interesting was that
the chamber has 330 members, 50 per-
cent of the Mason County workforce
See Harstine on page B-6
20, 2012 - Shelton-M ason County Journal - Page B-1