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Shepherdstown Shares donates funding to Shepherdstown’s second Habitat for Humanity house

By Tabitha Johnston - For the Chronicle | Mar 4, 2022

Habitat for Humanity of the Eastern Panhandle Executive Director Robin Kees, left, accepts gift cards to Home Depot from Shepherdstown Shares board member Morgan Boyer on Feb. 24. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — On Feb. 24, Habitat for Humanity of the Eastern Panhandle Executive Director Robin Kees met up in the Shepherdstown Shares Food Pantry with Shepherdstown Shares board member Morgan Boyer, to accept a $500 donation toward her organization’s current build in Shepherdstown.

The donation was made in the form of $500 in Home Depot gift cards, which were given to Shepherdstown Shares by Frank Coe, a Shepherdstown resident and Trinity Episcopal Church member. Trinity Episcopal Church’s chapel is the home of the Shepherdstown Shares Food Pantry.

“Frank Coe . . . donated a number of cards to the food pantry without any strings attached, to do with as we saw fit,” said food pantry coordinator Cari Simon. “The board at Shepherdstown Shares decided that gift cards totaling $500 would be an appropriate gift to help purchase materials and tools to build a Habitat for Humanity house in our community, and thus living up to our organization’s name.”

According to Shepherdstown Shares board member Mark Kohut, this donation is one of many similar ones that has been conducted through his organization.

“Shepherdstown Shares, besides feeding so many every week [through our food pantry], does many other things for the community,” Kohut said. “We have been donating $500 worth (of gifts and money) to various organizations of the community. This is our just-decided latest [donation].”

One of the things Kees noted was special about this donation to Habitat for Humanity’s second build in Shepherdstown, was that it is an example of the neighbors helping neighbors.

“It’s going to be kept here in the community, to be used at the Habitat for Humanity House in Sage Place Commons,” Kees said, mentioning other Shepherdstown groups have also reached out to her with donations to help with the build. “We’re getting ready to do the electrical work, so it could be used for that, or it could be used for plumbing or for light fixtures. It will be nice, because we’ll be able to take the house’s family into Home Depot to pick out those lights, if that’s what it’s used for!”

While financial donations are always appreciated, volunteered time is also a valuable donation, as it allows the building contractors to decrease the amount of their labor and, thereby, decrease their costs.

“I’m hoping in March that people will be able to begin helping with the Habitat for Humanity build. We had hoped to start in February, but it’s taken longer to get the build started. Unfortunately, that’s the world of construction,” Kees said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re able to help with the build for one hour a week or three to four times a month — it all makes a difference. It’s tremendously helpful!”

Sign up to help with the Sage Place Commons building project, or make a donation to Habitat for Humanity of the Eastern Panhandle at http://www.habitatep.org. A one-hour orientation class, which can be signed up for on the website, is required to be completed by all individuals donating their time at the build.