Dexter UMC Italian Dinner and Silent Auction Supports Habitat for Humanity

Dexter United Methodist Church will host its annual Italian dinner and silent auction on Feb. 23.

The fundraiser will benefit Habitat for Humanity, and takes place from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at the church, 7643 W. Huron River Drive. The silent auction is open from 3 to 7 p.m.

Tickets are available at the door and are $9 for adults, $8 for seniors, and $5 for children 5-12. Children under 4 eat for free.

The annual event has raised more than $85,000 for Habitat for Humanity of Huron Valley since it started in the late 1990s. Through this fundraiser and other donations, Dexter church members and friends have provided affordable homeownership opportunities for more than a dozen Washtenaw County families.

Proceeds support new construction and renovation projects through the Good News House Coalition, a collection of some 20 congregations, including Congregationalists, Methodists, Unitarian Universalists and other denominations.

This year the coalition will renovate two homes, which Habitat will sell at affordable prices to qualified buyers.

“Prior to hosting the dinner, Dexter United Methodist Church had a special collection each Mother’s Day to raise money for Habitat,” said Dan Teare of Chelsea, dinner organizer and a former Good News House leader. “People like to support Habitat, and they get a great, home-cooked dinner for a reasonable price."

Dexter’s Vickie Kudla-Hatch and Charley Hatch do most of the cooking, preparing tossed salad, chicken cacciatore, lasagna, pastas, marinara and Alfredo sauces and dessert, all from scratch. The Hatches and another 50 volunteers serve several hundred people each year.

“The Dexter community really comes together to support Habitat for Humanity,” says Kudla-Hatch. “Classic Pizza in Dexter and Busch’s help us with good prices on pizza, bread sticks and meat.”

Judy Murray of Dexter organizes the silent auction, which has grown from six items the first year to 139 in 2012. Items to be auctioned include gift certificates, lessons, home maintenance projects such as painting a room, vacation rentals, handcrafted wooden items, and homemade pies and desserts by award-winning local bakers.

For more information, call 734-426-8480.