Mother's Day Rally Cry to Women in All 50 States: Help Build Solutions to Poverty Housing

ATLANTA, May 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Do laying bricks, pounding nails and raising walls to build a house seem like unusual activities for pre- Mother's Day celebrations? Try telling that to construction crews of women volunteers at 150 Habitat for Humanity construction sites across all 50 states during Habitat's National Women Build Week, May 4 - 10.

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National Women Build Week, the latest national initiative for Habitat's Women Build program, underwritten by Lowe's, celebrates the compassion, dedication, talents and abilities of women from all walks of life. Women Build brings women together to learn construction skills and then use those skills to help solve the issue of poverty housing. In addition to providing construction know-how at in-store clinics and build sites, Lowe's is committing $750,000 to the initiative, contributing a $5,000 grant to each National Women Build Week participating affiliate.

"More than 12 million U.S. children live in poverty," said Larry D. Stone, Lowe's president and chairman of the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation. "Mother's Day is the right time to remind people that we can help parents provide warm, safe homes for their children and solve poverty housing by supporting Women Build and other Habitat projects. National Women Build Week is also an opportunity to welcome new volunteers and transform communities together."

"No one appreciates better than a mother the importance of a safe, secure living environment for children and their parents," added Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International. "It's not surprising, then, that women volunteers make enormous contributions every day to support Habitat's efforts to create that kind of home environment in all corners of the world. There's no better time than National Women Build Week to celebrate and increase the impact women make through their Habitat involvement. Lowe's understands the foundation that a safe, comfortable home can provide. Its tremendous support of the entire Women Build program is a compassionate extension of that recognition. "

Women have been building Habitat houses since 1991. Lowe's became the underwriter of the Women Build program in 2004 and provides financial support and volunteer support at Women Build sites nationwide. Since the program's inception, more than 1,200 Women Build homes have been constructed with Habitat partner families.

About Habitat for Humanity International

Habitat for Humanity International is an ecumenical Christian ministry that welcomes to its work all people dedicated to the cause of eliminating poverty housing. Since its founding in 1976, Habitat has built more than 250,000 houses worldwide, providing simple, decent and affordable shelter for more than 1 million people. For more information, visit www.habitat.org .

About Lowe's

Lowe's is a proud supporter of Habitat for Humanity International, American Red Cross, United Way of America, and the Home Safety Council, in addition to numerous non-profit organizations and programs that help communities across the country. In 2007, Lowe's and the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation together contributed more than $27.5 million to support community and education projects in the United States and Canada. Lowe's also encourages volunteerism through the Lowe's Heroes program, a company-wide employee volunteer initiative. Lowe's is a FORTUNE(R) 50 company with fiscal year 2007 sales of $48.3 billion and has more than 1,525 stores in the United States and Canada. For more information, visit Lowes.com/community.

SOURCE Habitat for Humanity International