Habitat for Humanity of Fulton County, Ohio is pleased to announce that our affiliate was selected as a recipient of The Honor Project Trust. Charitable organizations applied for funding earlier this year and were notified of their award status in August. Through this first-of-its-kind project, $6.3 million dollars of disgorged funds from a class action lawsuit were distributed to charitable organizations throughout every county in Ohio. Executive Director Heidi Kern and Construction Manager Bob Sauder attended the check distribution ceremony and accepted our affiliate’s portion of the proceeds, $25,000.00.
The Honor Project Mission:
The purpose of The Honor Project Trust is to identify 501 (c) (3) charitable organizations which demonstrate in their application societal impact in the State of Ohio and to distribute Cy Pres funds to those entities selected. The Honor Project Trust emanates from litigation pursued by the Ohio Attorney General Office (“AGO”) in a case captioned State of Ohio, et al. v. American International Group, Inc., et al., Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, Case No. CV 07 633857. Upon settlement of all claims with the Defendants, excess proceeds termed “disgorged funds” remained. The AGO filed a Notice of disgorged funds with the court and requested Judge John J. Russo, the Presiding Judge, to acknowledge his right to distribute the funds under the Court’s equitable powers. The court thereafter ordered that a portion of the disgorged funds be distributed to entities listed within and consistent with the AGO Notice.
Judge John J. Russo thereafter authorized The Honor Project Cy Pres Initiative. Pursuant to the Court’s Order, a Trust was created outlining the processes and procedures to implement this endeavor. The Honor Project Trust, through the Settlement Administrator, reported to Judge John J. Russo including recommendations from its Advisory Board for funding of charitable organizations that meet the criteria created by the Court’s Orders. 226 Ohio charities received funding.
Habitat for Humanity of Fulton County, Ohio is blessed with the Honor Project funding and plans to build a new home in spring 2015 for a local family in need of safe, affordable housing. This gift will provide approximately 35% of the necessary funds to complete the project. Thank you, Judge John J. Russo for the support of our mission and a family who will work hard toward a positive future in a Habitat home.
This funding will put us 500 square feet closer to building the next Habitat house! Each square foot costs approximately $50.00. Please consider adding to our Square Foot Club, as The Honor Project Trust has, and help Habitat reach its current goal.
More information regarding The Honor Project can be found at www.honorproject.org. More information about your local Habitat for Humanity mission can be found at www.habitatfco.org or by calling 419-335-7000.