When Glenn Hornick stood with members of Habitat for Humanity - Battlefords for the obligatory donation presentation photograph on Thursday, the "cheque" he presented was actually a blank piece of paper.
They needed something that would look good for the photo in the newspaper. The truth was that Hornick didn't really have a cheque to present at all, because his donation was the land they were standing on.
The former North Battleford mayor and his wife Caren are donating the lot they own at 1211-106th St., North Battleford to Habitat for Humanity - Battlefords. That land will be the location of a house Habitat hopes to build, which will be home for low-income families.
Those families will eventually own title to the land once the build is complete.
Habitat officials and volunteers stood with Hornick for the photo opportunity recognizing his land donation. They also posed with officials from SaskTel Pioneers who made a $20,000 grant towards the build, as well as a $2,000 donation from the local SaskTel Pioneers chapter.
Also attending were Mayor Ian Hamilton of North Battleford and Mayor Derek Mahon of Battleford, as well as North Battleford councillor Cathy Richardson who sits on the Habitat - Battlefords board.
The donations satisfy two early goals of Habitat officials in the Battlefords - to obtain land for a build and to get started with fundraising, with a target of $100,000.
"Having this lot, this land is a great boost in the right direction," said Ed Truelove, chair of Habitat Battlefords. "Now we've got to decide what type of structure to put on it."
It was just last fall that My First Home Inc. signed an agreement with Habitat Saskatoon to bring Habitat for Humanity to the Battlefords.
Since then, local members have been hard at work looking for a location for their first build, having considered locations in the city as well as in the town of Battleford. They wanted something in a residential area that would be close to schools and good for families.
The Hornicks owned the lot on 106th Street for several years and had always thought it would be a good place for a multi-family unit. Now, they see an opportunity for that to come to reality through Habitat's efforts.
Hornick said he approached Habitat about making a donation in response to the news reports detailing Habitat's efforts. He said both he and Caren thought it was a "heck of a great idea" to donate the land.
"I think the good Lord plays a role in this, you know" said Hornick. "Here and now, we have an opportunity to put two or three families into a great location, close to schools, close to downtown facilities, so we're happy to donate it to the community."
Hornick also made clear he was impressed with Habitat's mission to make it possible for low-income families to break the cycle of poverty through owning a home.
"I think anybody who has the ability to help people get established with a residence should step up and help those people get involved with home ownership," said Hornick.
Now that the organization's search for land is out of the way, Habitat officials can shift their focus towards raising the remaining money to meet their $100,000 target. They got a big boost to that end Thursday with two donations from the SaskTel Pioneers.
The provincial SaskTel Pioneers organization has committed $20,000 annually for the past three years to local Habitat builds in locations where the organization has never been built before, said Darrell Liebrecht of SaskTel Pioneers.
That money was raised through work fundraisers, with Habitat projects in Moose Jaw and Nipawin being the previous recipients.
"It's a great organization, a great group to give money to because it's a worthy cause and a family gets a home in the end," said Liebrecht.
The local SaskTel Pioneers also came up with $2,000 raised locally.
With the lot donation from the Hornicks counting for $50,000, that leaves only another $28,000 to be raised. The remaining funds will go towards construction costs for the home build itself.
Still to be determined is whether the home will be a duplex or something larger. Truelove noted the zoning allows for a four-plex to possibly be built at that site.
Also still to be determined is who will be selected as recipients of the home. As well, efforts will continue with fundraising and to recruit new volunteers.
