Norcross-based Yale Residential Security Products Inc. has agreed to be a lead sponsor of the Habitat for Humanity house that is to be built in the Toney Valley subdivision in DeKalb County. Both former President Jimmy Carter and Lech Walesa, a former president of Poland, have accepted invitations to lend a hand to the project titled “The Carpenter and the Electrician,” according to Allan Kirwan, a former mayor of Avondale Estates, who is heading up the effort. Mr. Kirwan told GlobalAtlanta last week that Mr. Carter has agreed to visit the property at 2610 Meriam Lane on the morning of May 19 while Mr. Walesa’s schedule only allows a visit sometime between April 29-May 13.
“We are hoping that these two Nobel Peace Prize winners would be able to meet at the site at the same time. They may be too busy for them to come together, but the people at Habitat are working to see if they can make it happen,” Mr. Kirwan said.
Yale Residential is the official lock supplier for all Habitat for Humanity homes built in North America as part of the long standing partnership between the organization and its parent company Stockholm, Sweden-based Assa Abloy Group.
“We are honored to be part of this build with these two esteemed world leaders,” said Michael Tracey, Yale Residential’s president. “It’s nice to be building in our own back yard this time.”
Yale Residential team members have participated in Habitat projects with Mr. Carter last year in Puebla and Veracruz, Mexico. (Go to www.globalatlanta.com to see photographs of the Mexican projects.)
The Avondale Estates Community Chest, a nonprofit organization based in Avondale Estates, is collecting funds to build the house. The property has been cleared and preparations for the construction of the house are nearly complete, Mr. Kirwan said.
Call Mr. Kirwan at (404) 296-3000 for more information.