TORONTO: Established in July 2007, The Burgundy Brick Foundation is a non-profit, inclusive student lead organization founded by a broad team of university students from the Greater Toronto area.

Executive Director(s) Stephen Lecce and Alexandra De Gasperis, hope the Burgundy Brick Foundation’s endeavors will support established developmental and humanitarian charities such as Habitat for Humanity Toronto. It is The Burgundy Brick Foundations belief that “without a strong foundation of a home one cannot have stability in life, which is why it is important to support affordable housing initiatives in our community.”

The Burgundy Brick Foundation’s first fundraising imitative will be the, Take One Charity Benefit, which will be held at the Capitol Event Theater at Yonge and Eglington on August 17th, 2007. The benefit will consist of a cocktail reception which will fashion an entertaining and relaxed environment in which Toronto’s urban youth will become conscious to the realities of the housing troubles in Toronto. The event will host several sponsors and an introduction by the Director of Habitat Toronto. Tickets are $40 and 100% of all donations will be donated to Habitat.

The beneficiary of the fundraisers, Habitat for Humanity Toronto, is a non-profit international organization directed at building affordable housing for low-income families. “Habitat is a respected organization in our city that the Burgundy Brick Foundation believes to fall in line with the foundation values of hope, sustainability and humanitarian support” Lecce and De Gasperis stated in an interview. Habitat’s mission is to promote homeownership as a means of breaking the cycle of poverty. In only 22 years, Habitat has expanded across 100 countries and has built over 225,000 homes. Habitat prides itself on it’s motto of providing “a hand up, not a hand out.”

The Burgundy Brick Foundation’s professionally developed website was launched today and will continuously be updated with further event information and opportunities to join the Burgundy Brick Team and help support affordable housing in our city.

For further information on the Burgundy Brick Foundation, Take One Charity Benefit on August 17th, or to make a donation, visit the website at http://www.burgundybrick.org

For Further Information Contact:

Melanie Cammalleri
Communications Director
The Burgundy Brick Foundation
melanie@burgundybrick.org
416.566.9130

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TORONTO: After 2 years and over $80,000 in funds to support of Habitat for Humanity Toronto, the Burgundy Brick Foundation is being recognized as the title home donor. On Wednesday, October 7, 2009 the executive members of the Burgundy Brick Foundation will join Habitat for Humanity Toronto on the site of Canada’s first solar-panel technology homes built by Habitat for Humanity. Twenty townhouses will be built on the Toronto affiliate’s 1500 Weston Road development providing safe, decent and affordable homes for 96 women, men and children currently living in substandard housing in Toronto. The solar build will also showcase GreenHouse® certified construction standards and will be 25-30% more energy efficient than those built to minimum Ontario Building Code standards.

To see our determination and fundraising efforts come to fruition in this new development reflects the primary objective of Burgundy Brick – to make a difference,” said Alexandra De Gasperis, executive director, Burgundy Brick Foundation.

As a nonprofit homebuilder that has adopted a ‘green’ building model, Habitat Toronto is setting an example for housing solutions and the larger building community,” said Habitat for Humanity Toronto’s CEO, Neil Hetherington. “Our model is about sustainability – social, economic and environmental. Our decision to build GreenHouse® homes is about protecting both the pocketbooks of our partner families and the environment for future generations.

To date the Burgundy Brick Foundation has succeeded in a variety of initiatives in support of Habitat for Humanity Toronto. Each Burgundy Brick member has worked independently with Habitat through the positive rapport built by Burgundy Brick’s relationship. Two third-party events have been hosted since 2007; through corporate sponsorships and individual donations the Burgundy Brick Foundation has raised enough funds to endow a house in the new solar development. Members of Burgundy Brick also pride themselves on their ability to increase awareness among youth, by gathering volunteers to participate in adopt-a-day challenges and one-day builds.

For Further Information Contact:

Melanie Cammalleri
Communications Director
The Burgundy Brick Foundation
melanie@burgundybrick.org
416.566.9130

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