CONTACT: Ramona Parks   (202) 822-7823

July 2, 2006

Members of the National Education Association Show Heart by Helping Habitat for Humanity

EUSTIS, FLA.— For three hours on Saturday, July 1, 2006, members of the National Education Association lent their hands to those less fortunate, by helping clean, paint and spruce up the Lake County Habitat for Humanity Home Store.

The Home Store provides the public with home furnishings and home improvement items at an affordable price.  Items sold at the Home Store include furniture, lawn and garden supplies and home décor merchandise.  These items are sold to the public with the proceeds going the Lake County Habitat for Humanity Program to build homes, interest-free, for people in need.

Delegates at this year's NEA Representative Assembly painted walls, added sod to the landscape and built shelves at the Home Store.  Volunteers came from states as diverse as Colorado, Delaware, Kansas, Minnesota, Ohio and Virginia.

This is the 10th consecutive year that NEA members attending the Association's Annual Meeting have taken time out of their schedule to work with Habitat for Humanity in the host city. Association member turnout for the Habitat for Humanity program serving Orlando represented the largest number of volunteers since NEA began supporting Habitat.

The NEA volunteers are in Orlando to take part in the NEA Representative Assembly, which runs July 2–5 at the Orange County Convention Center.  As part of the Association's Annual Meeting, nearly 9,000 delegates take part in the largest democratic decision-making body in the world.

"We do this each year to give back to the local communities who host our convention," said Karen-Sailing McInnis, a classroom teacher from Minnesota and chairperson of the Association's annual volunteer projects.  "We get to meet teachers and school employees from all over the country, make new friends, while also giving back to the communities we're visiting and helping those less fortunate." 

"I'm overwhelmed by the generosity and hard work that NEA has put into helping our cause," said Lake County Habitat for Humanity Volunteer Coordinator Pam Trignano.  "I'd like to thank the entire Association for its efforts."

The Lake County Habitat for Humanity has existed since 1990 and will celebrate its 100th house building on July 22.

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The National Education Association is the nation's largest professional employee organization, representing 2.8 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers.