Vince Carson

Speechwriting

Com 365

September 22, 2003

Good evening and welcome to the 27^th annual Habitat for Humanity Appreciation Banquet. First of all I would like to thank everyone here for his or her hard work and dedication to this wonderful cause. It is people like you that keep our organization strong and constantly growing whether it is a part time volunteers or an administrative coordinator, everyone is equally important. Just in the past five years I have been able to see a large change in productivity in relation to all of our projects. We are expanding everyday and are finding more and more smiling faces to help with the organization. Although everyone here contributes to this wonderful organization there are a few people that really deserve special appreciation and that is why we are here tonight. Tonight we are honoring the Habitat for Humanity Volunteer of the year. And since our organization is very large it is the most prestigious honor to accept or even be nominated for this award. But before I present the award I would like to tell you a little bit about what Habitat for Humanity stands for.

This is an organization that has been around for over 25 years and was formed by a loving Christian couple, Millard and Linda Fuller, who moved to the U.S with a dream. A dream of everyone being able to live in a decent home and no longer having to struggle to provide shelter for themselves and loved ones. If you had told the Fullers that 27 years later their dream would be an international organization with millions of supporters they probably would have never believed you. But the reason it was such a success was because of all of the wonderful people who took time out of their lives to help the lives of people in need. These people have helped Habitat provide more than 150,000 houses for more than 750,000 people all over the world. Every family that was helped by Habitat has been more than appreciative for the hard work that volunteers put forth towards building their homes. But as stated earlier, some volunteers, like stars in the sky, shine brighter than others.

This year Habitat for Humanity witnessed someone who totally organized 7 projects from start to finish. That includes organizing fund raising, building site selection, family selection, house construction, and mortgage servicing. For someone to complete seven projects in one year is a great new step in the progress of Habitat for Humanity because it raises the bar for future affiliates to provide more houses each year. To be nominated for the volunteer of the year award the volunteer must be someone who is innovating in our methods to accomplish goals, someone who is always advocating and educating about the problems of substandard housing and Habitat for Humanity’s solution, and someone who is always building our capacity to serve. This year we at the Habitat for Humanity organization had many bright stars shining in the sky but there was one star that burned bright night and day and never stopped shining. This person was the most productive volunteer out of any one of our international affiliates and single handedly inspired three more affiliates to start and join the Habitat organization. We could not be more proud of John Davis tonight because he is our 2003 Volunteer of the Year award winner. We love you John and your work here is priceless. Don’t ever leave us. John Davis ladies and gentlemen.