Habitat for Humanity prepping for annual fund-raising gala

The Staunton-Augusta-Waynesboro Habitat for Humanity Home for Homes Ball has raised more than half a million dollars for the non-profit in its first five years.

This year’s program, set for Saturday, Jan. 21, beginning at 5 p.m. at the Stonewall Jackson Hotel in Staunton, will feature remarks by retired Navy Captain Mark E. Black, and Waynesboro City Councilwoman Elzena Anderson.

Black was recently selected as Fishburne Military School’s 12th superintendent.  He is retired from a distinguished 30-year career with the United States Navy, where he served in Iraq as a squadron commander and naval aviator, and promoted to Commodore of the Strike Fighter Wing Pacific Fleet.  He then became the officer in charge of all Naval personnel in Afghanistan.  Most recently, Black was the Commanding Officer and Professor of Naval Science at the University of Virginia’s Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) Unit.

Anderson was elected to Waynesboro City Council in 2016, and is assistant director at the Waynesboro City Library.  As a child, Anderson helped build her family’s Staunton Habitat home and has a unique perspective of the impact growing up in a Habitat home has had on her life.  Anderson graduated from the College of William & Mary and received her Master’s in Library and Information Science from the University of Kentucky.

A live auction will be hosted by a TV celebrity, Ken Farmer who is a lifelong resident of Virginia and a well-known advisor, appraiser, and auctioneer for all kinds of fine jewelry and decorative art.  He is a consultant with the prestigious Freeman’s Auction house in Philadelphia, PA.   Farmer has also been on the television series Antiques Roadshow since it began in 1996 and crisscrosses the USA doing presentations on fine art, jewelry and antiques, as well as hosting appraisal events.

This January 21^st at Habitat’s Hope for Homes Ball – will be the first-time he and his wife, Jane have attended a fundraiser in Staunton.  “My wife and I believe that Habitat enables people to help themselves and we are happy to help with this fundraiser and further that cause,” said Farmer.

Details

• What:  SAW Habitat Home for Homes Ball/ When: 5 – 11 p.m. Saturday, January 21st, 2017
• Where:  Stonewall Jackson Hotel, 24 S. Market Street, Staunton
• Cost:  $125 per person.  Please contact Rhonda Howdyshell, Gala Committee at (540) 292 0978 to be placed on a reserve list for a reservation.  Info: www.habitatsaw.org