Fulton County Ohio Media

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As stated in their literature, “Habitat builds and repairs homes for those in need of affordable housing who have little means to better their circumstances through conventional avenues.  Projects require payback of the home build at an affordable price because no interest is charged.  Mortgage payments are used to fund projects and operations but aren’t enough, so, Habitat relies on donations, grants, and fundraising.  One of the ways we fundraise is Playhouse Projects.  Sponsors pay for, design and build a playhouse to give away to children in the community.”

About two weeks ago, Heidi Kern, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity of Fulton County, its Board of Directors and other volunteers, got together in the parking lot of Ace Hardware in Wauseon to build two 4’x5’x6’ playhouses.  But not your everyday standard playhouses would these be.  Dividing the “builders” into two construction teams, one house would be decorated in the theme of The Ohio State University (OSU) Buckeyes and the other in the theme of their fiercest rival, the University of Michigan (UM) Wolverines. 

“I’ve got my OSU (Scarlet & Gray) team over here working hard and my Michigan (Maize & Blue) team over there working hard and, in the end, we’re going to raffle these off in the community and it is a fundraiser for Habitat,” said Ms. Kern.  “People can vote in this competition between these two teams.  People can vote at our website (www.habitatfco.org) and it’s $5.00 per vote or five votes for $20.00 and you choose which playhouse you want to win.  On Game Day (November 25^th) someone will win the Michigan playhouse and someone will win the OSU playhouse.  They don’t have to be present to win.  We will do it through Facebook Live and will contact the winners right away.”

Photos of the playhouses are on the organization’s website and Facebook page and will also be displayed in their booth at the Fulton County Fair which runs from September 1st through the 7th.  “Our booth will be in the Merchant Building just north of the grandstand and will be there all week.  We will also be building additional playhouses at the fair over where the horseshoes used to be.  We have six to seven sponsors that are going to be building and those playhouses will be given away to families in the community with no raffle,” explained Ms. Kern.  “That’s what our Playhouse Project is all about.  We have sponsors fund them, build them, decorate them and give them away to families in the community that can really use them.  It’s a fund raiser for Habitat, a team-building experience for those sponsors and someone in the community gets a playhouse.  We consider that a win win win.”

One of the sponsors this year, as they have been in years past, is North Star Bluescope Steel of Delta.  The company will have a large presence at the 2023 Fulton County Fair and had volunteers working on the OSU/UM Playhouse Project that Saturday morning.  “Our team enjoys the seeing the excitement of the kids every time.  It’s priceless just to be part of that,” exclaimed Kirsten Fruchey, one of North Star’s volunteers.  “The organization, Habitat, just does so much for our community and to be a part of that is just amazing.”

The competition to be chosen as the winning playhouse, much like the OSU/UM rivalry, will be intense.  Does either side have an edge?  Fulton County is in the Buckeye State but also borders the Wolverine State on the north.  It lies within the hotbed of the biggest rivalry in all of college football.  Vote early and vote often.  It is all for a great cause.

Click on the link above to access photos from the playhouse construction site. Photos are in the jpeg format and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

Photo: Team Habitat