CFCP begins latest home build

Published 2:35 pm Tuesday, October 4, 2022

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LANETT — A Millard Fuller Legacy Build will take place in Lanett’s Jackson Heights neighborhood next week. Concrete pads for the two new homes have been poured, the walls for the new homes have been assembled and are on-site, and mobile minis are there, ready for work to begin.

Between 60 and 80 volunteers will be at the work site from 7:30 a.m. every Monday through Friday.

“The weather forecast is good, and we hope the rain holds off for us,” said Chattahoochee Fuller Center Project (CFCP) Executive Director Kim Roberts. “Rain delayed us some in last year’s build in West Point. We hope that won’t happen to us again this year.”

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Approximately 40 of the volunteers will be from out of town. The four house captains for the projects are veterans of past Fuller Center builds in the local community. They include A.J. Jewel from Florida, Doug Stephens from South Carolina, Jim Tomascak from Minnesota and Bryce Kujat from Ohio.

This year’s build is being done in memory of Deputy J’Mar Abel, who lost his life in a police chase incident last June. On his second anniversary with the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office, he was killed on a stretch of road between the Hickory Flat and Standing Rock communities. He was assisting the Roanoke Police Department in chasing a suspect when the fatal wreck occurred. He was only 24 years old.

“Our goal is to have the two houses dried in on the first day,” Roberts said. “That means the walls will be standing, the roof on and the doors and windows in. We want to thank the host church, Pilgrim Baptist, along with Spring Road Christian Church, Lanett First Baptist, West Point Baptist, West Point Methodist and West Point Presbyterian for providing meals every day. We also thank Johnny’s Pizza and Terri’s Mill Village Cafe for providing lunches for the volunteers every day.”

The new homeowners have been selected. They are Terrence Griffin and Alexandria Williams. Terrence works for the Fuller Center and is raising three girls. Alexandria works for the City of Lanett and has two daughters.

“We will have the Rambassadors from Valley High School there to help us,” Roberts said. “A youth group from Spring Road Christian Church will be there to clean up at the end of each work day.”

Lanett High athletes will help serve at Sunday evening’s kickoff event at Pilgrim. It’s limited to 100 people and is by invitation only.

“We are so excited to be this close,” Roberts said. “We are busy, busy, busy right now, and we think we have a really good week in store, starting Oct. 10.”

A light dedication ceremony is set for Friday afternoon, Oct. 14. There will probably be some minor details to take care of before the families can move in, but all the major work is expected to be finished by then.