WASHINGTON – Imagine buying a home for which every piece of material it took to build it was completely donated.
Now imagine the profits from the sale of the house, including the realtor’s commission, also being donated for a good cause.
Athletes who participate in events put on by Normal-based Special Olympics Illinois won’t have to imagine because, in a Thursday ceremony at the newly constructed two-story home at 1700 Retriever Lane, in the Mallard Crossing Subdivision of Washington, an area developer will donate a check in the amount of profit made from the construction and sale of the dwelling.
The profits will go to Special Olympics Illinois, an organization which offers year-round training and competition in 19 sports for 20,000 athletes ages 8 years and older with intellectual disabilities.
Once the house was finished this Summer, Tammi Robinson, a nurse working in Peoria, bought the house, which sits on a corner lot.
Titanium Development, Scott Underwood Homes, Underwood & Associates Realtors, and Washington Cabinet Works teamed with LS Building Products, subcontractors and suppliers to donate labor and materials to build the residence.
The home sold for $259,900, with all profits from the sale of the home being donated to the Law Enforcement Torch Run to benefit Special Olympics Illinois.
How much profit? SOI received a check from the venture in the amount of $40,000 at Thursday’s ceremony.
“We’re thrilled with this,” said Jeff Hensen, director of special events for Special Olympics Illinois. “We’re tremendously thankful to Scott and all the partners, David Thornburg and Robert Brown, and to (Washington Police) Chief Jim Kuchenbecker, who have been involved with this.”
Having seen the work Special Olympics does to improve the lives of the athletes it serves, Kuchenbecker said he knew the community of Washington could find a unique way to raise funds for Special Olympics Illinois.
Kuchenbecker said he approached Underwood about donating the home once it was built. That, of course, meant that all the materials would be donated, too, to take things a step further.
Kuchenbecker said Underwood was on board immediately with the idea and approached building suppliers with the notion of donating materials to the cause. He started by talking to Troy Reed from East Peoria-based LS Building Products.
It didn’t take long for Underwood to get Reed to join in on the venture. Reed, in turn, went to his suppliers seeking material donations.
Kuchenbecker, Underwood, Thornburg, Brown, and Reed will all be part of Thursday’s ceremony. Also attending the ceremony will be Doug Snyder, President and CEO of Special Olympics Illinois.
Also scheduled to be present for the presentation is Joe Peña, President of the Illinois Chiefs of Police Association and Director of Illinois Law Enforcement Torch Run, as well as other representatives from the Special Olympics community.
When it was realized how much profit had been made from this project, even Kuchenbecker said he was surprised by the total of the donation.
“What we thought would only be a couple of thousand dollars turned into $40,000, so we’re going to be able to do a great thing for these athletes,” he said.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 24th, 2007 at 3:00 pm and is filed under Pekin Daily Times, Special Olympics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
