WeHelp to hold fundraising pancake breakfast

By Donathan Prater

Published: March 6, 2008

This weekend the WeHelp Coalition of Churches for Habitat for Humanity will hold a Pancake Breakfast at Applebee’s to raise funds to construct another Habitat House.

WeHelp, Tiger Habitat at Auburn University, East Alabama Medical Center and Auburn United Methodist Church hope to raise the $50,000 during the course of the year necessary to build the eighth Habitat home.

Applebee’s will host the pancake breakfast and do the cooking while youth from the various churches that comprise the WeHelp Coalition will take customers’ orders and bus tables.

The WeHelp Coalition holds about three pancake breakfasts each year, according to Michael Kosolapoff, chairperson for the WeHelp Coalition of Churches.

The WeHelp Coalition was formed in the 1980s in an effort to provide affordable housing for low-income families and is comprised of 11 Auburn-area churches.

Lee County Habitat finished building its 50th home in early 2007 (including seven other houses WeHelp churches helped in building).

“Habitat Lee County has also supervised the building of homes in Auburn and Opelika,” Kosolapoff said.

While to some might just see them as houses, Kosolapoff knows the homes WeHelp Churches of Habitat for Humanity have a hand in building represent realizing the dream of home ownership for their recipients.

“Home ownership is a big part of what Habitat is all about,” said Kosolapoff.

Apparently not only are they a good value in improving their recipient’s living conditions, but also it terms of equity.

“Habitat Houses are worth at least 50 percent more than the price it costs to build them,”Kosolapoff said. “Families are getting a home worth more than they’re paying for it when they move into it.”

The WeHelp Pancake Breakfast is among several fundraising events the group holds annually which include the WeHelp Cookie Walk in December, a blueberry sale June through August and the WeHelp Gospel Sing in mid-July.

The breakfast is from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Saturday. All tickets are $6 and are on sale at all WeHelp Churches or at Applebee’s on the day of the event. All proceeds go to the building of another Habitat House by the WeHelp Coalition.