Concrete Home Building Council - 12/20/2005 (Plain Text Version)

CHBC Chairman
Michael Weber

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In this issue:
Year in Review for the Concrete Home Building Council
Concrete House Stands up to Katrina
IBS & Concrete
Calling All Systems Builders: Free Hallmark Event
Residential Concrete Demos
High Style Meets High Strength
Educational Resources With Concrete Focus
Lafarge and the Community
Tax Reform Panel Delivers a Harsh Blow
Concrete Briefs . . .

Lafarge and the Community

"This is a day to celebrate a life-long dream for David and Katherine Milum and their three children, a day to celebrate the six year partnership of Lafarge and Calgary Habitat and a day to celebrate the work of hard working and dedicated volunteers," according to Diane Reid, Manager of Public Affairs for Habitat for Humanity - Calgary.

Diane made these remarks as part of the official dedication ceremony in Calgary's Taravista community when John Kline, Vice President of Manufacturing, Western Cement Region, proudly handed the keys to the partner family, David and Katherine Milum.

The home was built by some 40 Lafarge Construction Materials, Cement and Ductal® employees from Calgary and the neighbouring cement plant at Exshaw, who worked side by side with Habitat Calgary employees and volunteers. This was the first concrete Habitat house in Canada and the first home in North America to have Ductal® countertops.

David Milum, who accepted the keys on behalf of his wife Katherine, children Meaghen,
Brianne and two-month old Mathew, thanked Calgary Habitat for accepting them as a partner family and recognized the spirit of Lafarge and their employees for making his family's "dream of homeownership" a reality. He stated that his family was not only looking forward to living in this safe, decent and affordable home, but also to comparing heating bills with his neighbour when next winter arrives, since concrete homes are well known for their terrific insulating factors.

Sharaz Sharif, the Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Province of Alberta and local area representative attended, along with approximately sixty other folks including many Lafarge employees who turned out to celebrate their hard work. Mr. Sharif commended Lafarge for their sense of civic duty and community spirit. In his words, "it is the dedication of corporations like Lafarge that makes Calgary such a special place to live".

The Lafarge concrete home is only a part of the Calgary team's contribution to the local Habitat organization. Over the past five years, thanks to the organizational wizardry of Gisèle Turner, Calgary Cement Region's Office Supervisor, an annual charity golf tournament has raised a total of $163,164 for the Habitat Calgary initiative. This year's tournament is already in the planning stages, with an expectation that the $41,000 raised in 2003 will be surpassed. Diane Reid in her closing comments said that with the dedication and commitment of Lafarge in Calgary, the future of Habitat home initiatives in Calgary and surrounding area looks very bright.

Bright indeed! Congratulations, Lafarge, on a tremendously successful initiative. This is
truly a contribution worth celebrating!