Every 15 minutes we celebrate the completion of a Habitat house some place in the world. And behind every house there are dozens of stories that weave the fabric of this incredible mission. And yet, while we celebrate every 15 minutes, we also realize and accept the challenge that there is so much more to do.

Last year my wife and I hosted a young couple from Brazil who had come to Charlotte to learn English as a second language. How we got to know them is "a story within a story."

Read the story that inspired this event!

Join us in celebrating our 25th anniversary by sponsoring and building a landmark house - "The House That Love Built".

Can you believe we already have an anonymous donor who has agreed to sponsor this challenge with a $25,000 match?

Joining in is Easy: Getting it Done Will be the Challenge!

But the donation match comes with a catch: it will only happen after we reach $50,000 from all types of participants from our mission over the past 25 years. Why do we need to meet this goal by the end of July? Our goal is to raise the walls by on October 5, 2013.  Even this construction schedule is presented as a challenge for OTH construction workers. We'll have to finish this house in three months, instead of our usual four and a half months. But it is doable!

Let's make the fundraising significant, by setting special donation levels:

• $25 ($1 for every year)
• $250   ($1for every family served locally)
• $2,500 ($1 for every family served globally)
• $25,000 ($1,000 for every year of celebration)
• Of course, any amount will be accepted with gratitude.

Let the challenge begin.

We have already received the first $200 from a young Brazilian couple who had never heard of Habitat until last year, had never been in Our Towns, and yet without knowing it, have inspired us all into "celebrating our anniversary by keeping on building what we love." Please join in and become an integral part of this incredible aniversario home build.

The Our Towns Habitat for Humanity board of directors were so moved by the outpouring of support that they have each individually donated funds to this 25th Anniversary - The House that Love Built campaign and have challenged at least one friend.

So join us and challenge your friends and family to join us with a donation, an Our Towns Habitat for Humanity Story and a day to volunteer!