GM Foundation and Habitat for Humanity Help Lansing Community

teamGM Cares volunteers work to finish first non-profit food hub in mid-Michigan

LANSING, MI--April 24, 2013:  General Motors' employee volunteers are partnering with Habitat for Humanity Lansing today to help finalize construction and interiors for the new Allen Market Place located in Lansing's Allen Neighborhood Center. The teamGM Cares volunteer project is one of 12 that will take place across the United States thanks to a $1 million grant from the General Motors Foundation to Habitat for Humanity International.

"The GM Foundation is committed to helping build stronger communities where GM employees live and work," said GM Foundation President Vivian Pickard. "We are proud to partner with Habitat for Humanity Lansing on the Allen Market Place as it will serve the community in a very meaningful way."

The teamGM Cares volunteers from the company's headquarters in Detroit, as well as its Lansing Delta Township and Lansing Grand River Assembly plants, are working at the Allen Market Place, located at 1619 E Kalamazoo Street in Lansing, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, as well as other elected officials will also be on hand to help kick off the morning activities. Tonight, GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson will be the keynote speaker for Habitat Michigan's 2013 Awards Banquet at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center.

In 2012, Akerson and his wife, Karin, provided a $1 million cornerstone gift to Habitat for Humanity's "Leaders to ReBuild Detroit" initiative. GM employee volunteers have worked on several projects for Habitat for Humanity Detroit, and are committed to making a difference in Lansing through the Allen Market Place project. 

When it opens next month, the Allen Market Place will be the first non-profit food hub in mid-Michigan, helping to connect regional farmers and food producers with retail merchants, restaurants, schools and others interested in 'buying local.' The Allen Market Place will also feature an award-winning farmers market that draws more than 16,000 community visitors annually.

"We are excited to launch our Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative in Lansing in partnership with Allen Neighborhood Center and General Motors," said Denise Paquette, executive director, Habitat for Humanity Lansing. "Our participation in completing the Allen Market Place and home preservation projects in the surrounding neighborhood is the beginning of what we are confident will be a prosperous ongoing program in our community."

In addition to the GM Foundation's grant, in December 2012 Chevrolet donated 24 Express cargo vans to Habitat for Humanity International, creating the organization's first-ever fleet of mobile response units. The vehicles, filled with tools and equipment from Lowe's and Robert Bosch Tool Corporation, were dispatched with teamGM Cares volunteers to assist with Hurricane Sandy response efforts in New York and New Jersey.