Multiple departments from CarMax came together to assist in completing three homes and aiding in the building of other homes and storage sheds in the neighborhood, which will house 20 adults and 36 children.  The teams’ progress could be seen at the end of each day in the 17-home area. 

Rob Kelley of the CarMax Store Operations and Training team volunteered on one of the first (and hottest) days of the team-builder.  He said, “We started with a pile of wood in the ungraded back yard of a house.”  When his group left for the day, they had leveled the uneven concrete-like soil, cut all of the raw wood to the correct length, built the shed floor, built each wall structure, and raised each of the four walls to the shed. This great sense of accomplishment was felt each day by Rob’s fellow associates in their various projects. 

Over 19 days of work, CarMax volunteers managed to organize, build, cut, frame, prime, paint, dig, caulk, hammer, assembled, and so much more.  In addition to the satisfying feeling of seeing the houses come together, many of the volunteers had the chance to interact with the future home owners.  “Spending a part of my day with people who were going to move into the neighborhood made the Habitat experience that much more rewarding and meaningful,” said Kate Herbert of the CarMax New-Store Marketing group. 

Paige Ross, who works in the CarMax Customer Relations department, plans to take another visit to the neighborhood in a few years.  She speaks for so many of the CarMax volunteers when she says, “I can’t wait to see the families enjoy the beautiful homes they worked to receive.”

On July 11th, representatives from the CarMax Marketing and Accounting departments joined forces to work on a few projects at one of last homes in the neighborhood.  The first project of the day was to complete and raise the front wall of the new home. 

Later in the day, the team worked on the interior framing of the house.  These projects were very new to most of the volunteers so it was a great learning experience to see what goes into creating the basic frame of any living space. 

“We enjoyed walking around seeing the different floor plans in each house since there are so many homes going up in this neighborhood.  Learning to build a wall from scratch was something new to me and very interesting” said Lori Dawson of the CarMax Media Buying team.

The CarMax volunteers were thrilled to have a chance to spend some time with a future neighborhood home owner.  This lady has been donating many volunteer hours to her future neighbors and their homes, as her home is near completion. 

Kate Herbert of the CarMax New-Store Marketing team said, “Getting to meet the people that will move into the home that we helped build made the experience even more rewarding and meaningful.  Participating in Habitat for Humanity was unlike any experience I’ve had before.”  The team also had a chance to meet a few people who are training to become Habitat supervisors.  These people are dedicating their lives to helping others have safe and sturdy new homes. 

Peggy Fore, also of the CarMax Media Buying team, summed up her day in a way that many CarMax volunteers agree with.  She said, “I leave work after a long day and sometimes wonder, ‘What did I do today?’”  With Habitat, I was able to see our accomplishments and felt like we did something great!”

As the team-builder draws to a close, we will have more stories, learning experiences, and photos from the 17-home neighborhood that almost 400 CarMax associates have had a hand in building. 

June 18

As we backtrack to mid-June, teams were assigned various projects to complete the first few houses in the neighborhood.  On June 18th, CarMax volunteers worked on preparing the A frames to a roof so that they could be placed on the house by a crane the next day. 

The second half of the team’s day was spent framing the porch on the same house.  Dan Rafferty, Programmer Analyst of the CarMax Systems Technology team, was a proud volunteer helping with these tasks.  Dan said, “It was enjoyable and rewarding.  I plan to volunteer again at my next opportunity.” 

July 9th

Moving to the beginning of July, many CarMax volunteers had the pleasure of working on some of the final homes in the neighborhood.  Volunteers from the Carmax IT Business Applications and HR Systems teams arrived at a house where only the foundation existed.  The group worked on sill plates, the center beam, and floor joists.  They also assembled parts to be used in the house framing. 

Troy Hannon enjoyed these projects and said, “I especially enjoyed working on the joists for the floor of the house.  It is amazing that just that little bit of wood could hold up all the people and furniture that will one day be loaded on top of them.”  He went on to say that “it was also rewarding to work with other team members on something so concrete (no pun intended)!”

The volunteer team on July 9th also had the wonderful pleasure of meeting a new homeowner who was continuing to volunteer, even though she had already completed her required volunteer hours.  CarMax volunteer Zanetta Fisher said, “She had such a giving spirit because she actually completed her hours and was still there to make up hours for some of her new neighbors.” 

Stephen Manley of the Business Services team said “Everyone put in a hard day’s work and felt like we really accomplished something.”

This blog covers just 2 days of the 19-day team-builder in which about 400 CarMax associates have joined forces with Metropolitan Richmond Habitat for Humanity and other volunteers in the community to feel the same sense of accomplishment that Stephen mentioned.  More pictures and stories from the 17-home community to come!

On July 3, a team of 15 volunteers from CarMax started their holiday weekend with some outdoor projects.  A few team members assisted other community volunteers in painting foundations on two of the houses.  The remaining group was assigned a backyard area which had 3 partially completed storage sheds.  The task for the day was to put roofs on these sheds. For some in the group, the responsibilities came very easy, as they had clearly worked on roofing projects before.  For others, the lack of experience and fear of heights became apparent, but everyone was thrilled to try something new and learn a few tricks of the trade. 

Despite the levels of experience in roofing, each person stepped up to do what he or she could to contribute to protecting these sheds from the elements.  Some were brave enough to get on top of the sheds to nail boards and shingles.  Others were responsible for getting shingles, nails, water, and any other needed supplies for those not on the ground.  Mike Munden, Production Support Analyst with the CarMax IT department and team captain for the day was, without a doubt, experienced in hands-on home building projects and spent much of his day on top of the sheds helping out the less experienced people.  “I loved it!  Working outside with people from different CarMax teams was a lot of fun. It’s also very exciting to know that soon these sheds will be a valuable part of a family’s own backyard.”

Volunteer John Borges from the CarMax Sales Audit team said, “It was an awesome experience to be able to work in the community with Habitat for Humanity, being able to help out in our community is something that I love doing and I look forward to doing more in the future! I am very grateful that CarMax has given us the opportunity to serve in our communities!“

This July day was a part of the 19-day team-builder in which about 400 CarMax associates have joined forces with Metropolitan Richmond Habitat for Humanity and other volunteers in the community to construct homes in the City of Richmond.  More information, photos, and experiences to come!

June 5th
The first day of the team-builder was June 5th.  You may remember that week clearly, as the thermometer reached record-breaking temperatures.  This did not stop the CarMax team from digging holes, building a back porch and stairs, and doing landscaping projects.  A group of women even became known as the CCC – CarMax Caulking Crew. 

The CarMax team on June 5th had the pleasure of spending the day with a future owner of one of the neighborhood houses.  She is a nursing assistant and proud mother of a 7 year-old son and 3 year-old daughter.  This family plans to move into their home by the end of summer. 

June 11th
The 15 CarMax associates that volunteered on June 11th fortunately had slightly cooler weather than the group a week before.  This group represented associates from the Quality Assurance, Service Payables, Benefits and Compensation, and Legal teams at the CarMax Home Office.

This work day involved a lot hammers and nails.  Some had better luck with their hammer than others.  Janet Bruington, Director of Benefits, said, “Our team task was to build three walls and get them upright by the end of the day.  We accomplished our goal through LOTS of hammering all day - occasionally hitting the actual nail (or maybe that was just me…)!”

This team had the thrill of seeing the walls they had been working on raised.  What a wonderful feeling seeing a basic foundation look more like a home in a matter of seconds.

June 20th
The Habitat build on June 20th was a bit out of the ordinary for the volunteers.  The twin daughters of Richmond Habitat’s Executive Director were celebrating their 16th birthday!  They invited friends and administrative staff from Midlothian High School to join the celebration at the up and coming neighborhood. 

In addition to building with the birthday girls, CarMax volunteers had the joy of working with a new homeowner.  This grateful lady was so excited about her new home that she had already completed her required volunteer hours, but returned to the neighborhood to help out with other homes. 

Despite a broken toe, Michael Berman, a CarMax Marketing representative, helped out with the various tasks assigned that day to the teams.  He said, “I’ve done some volunteer work before, but nothing compares to seeing first hand the amazement, the wonder, the expression of someone who is about to receive his/her first house.  These houses are made with care and love of volunteers – volunteers who may have a broken toe, volunteers that may not have an engineering degree, volunteers that have probably never framed a porch, and volunteers that took time out of their day to help someone own a home.”

The projects on June 20th included painting doors and door frames, caulking baseboards, and priming ceiling and walls. 

CarMax is so thrilled to be a part of this project, witnessing the boards, nails, and other materials coming together as houses that will soon become homes. More updates and photos to come! 

Approximately 400 CarMax volunteers will participate in the project that will supply homes to 20 adults and 36 children on Angus Road, which is located just off of Walmsley Boulevard in Richmond.  Following the 19-day team-builder, The CarMax Foundation will grant $10,000 to the Metropolitan Richmond Habitat for Humanity.  CarMax, Inc. was also a proud presenting sponsor of a Habitat luncheon held on June 5th, totaling donations of $20,000. 

CarMax works hard to be a generous and active corporate citizen.  Many volunteer team-builders have been done with various chapters of Habitat for Humanity since the founding of The CarMax Foundation in 2003, which provides volunteer grants to the organizations that benefit from volunteers.  These past Habitat team-builders have taken place in cities such as Oklahoma City, OK; Birmingham, AL; Jacksonville, FL; Kansas City, MO; and New Orleans, LA.

As the team-builder goes on, we will provide updates and photos of the hard work and celebration that goes into such a worth-while project, giving such deserving families safe and beautiful homes.
>

Finney, a mother of five and grandmother of one, has worked as a stylist at the Hair Cuttery at Pocono Green on Midlothian Turnpike for more than 12 years.

The house on Angus Road in South Richmond will have five bedrooms and will be wheelchair-accessible for Finney’s daughter who has cerebral palsy.

We began by cleaning every nook and cranny of wood chips, sawdust, and miscellaneous scraps.  We put foam insulation in all wire holes, behind electrical boxes and around the windows.  After finishing, I told Jerry I felt like a “foam expert”.  He said, no, you’re an “Insulation Specialist”!  After installing cardboard ventilation shields under the eaves around the house, it is now ready for insulation.  Our work was complete and we were pleased to know we had a hand in helping the Homeowners stay warm and cozy in the winter and cool and comfortable in the summer. 

I was so pleased to help with this heartwarming and important project.  It was my first experience with Habitat, but it will not be my last.

I spent the majority of my day working with “Don” - a mighty gentleman about 80 years young that taught me how to create and install the door to the crawl space. Don, who turned out to be a lot like my dad, knows his stuff and has been volunteering with HfH about fifteen years. He makes sure that it is done right, because if it isn’t, by golly, we are going to take it off and do it again.

I have done lots of other tasks on lots of builds, but this is the first time working on framing and installing a door, so it was great. Don was a little unsure of having a “gal” helper at first, but I think he pretty much warmed up to me as the day wore on.

I was fortunate to also be able to work with a group of realtors on siding (as long as it was on the ground - no heights for me). Carol from Ageless Remedies and I were the “odd balls” in the group (or, odd & even - with me being the odd as Paula, one of the realtors, told me!).  Some of the bravest worked on the roof while others climbed scaffolding to work on the siding higher up. (Yes, I did finally get to shake all that shingle dust out of my hair before my afternoon meeting).

I cannot wait to go back and see what I get to do next. I do love working with power tools. Go “Girl” Power!