Nov. 3, 2009

NORFOLK, Va. - This Wednesday, ODU Athletics will take their turn among the hundreds volunteering for the ODU Coalition Habitat for Humanity build which began Monday morning. This week, as part of a campus-wide community service project to celebrate Homecoming 2009, Old Dominion University faculty, staff and students will be joining together to build a home for charity near campus. Wednesday's shifts will feature several ODU teams volunteering with Athletics staff.

The first shift, a morning effort beginning at 8:00 a.m. will include members of the baseball team as well as staff from athletic public relations, athletic training, the Big Blue Club and athletics marketing and promotions. In the afternoon, the women's soccer team, cheerleaders and women's golf team will be joined by members of athletic publications and the finance department, beginning at 12:30 p.m. The second shift will conclude at approximately 4:30 p.m.

Work will be completed in two locations, including the new home site on West 39th Street near the corner of Powhatan Avenue, and a remote location on 47th and Killam. The scheduled construction for Wednesday includes completion of the second floor segment and the beginning of porch work. The Old Dominion athletics volunteers will help set the stairs, flooring and frame the wall segments.

Volunteers from all across campus have joined in this collaborative effort to build the house for a Norfolk family. Habitat for Humanity of South Hampton Roads, a non-profit corporation, is the local affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International. Habitat provides no-profit, no-interest mortgages to qualified low-income families in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia Beach and Isle of Wight Counties.