New Middletown man leaves home to Habitat

NEW MIDDLETOWN

Albert “Al” Gilchrist Jr. was a low-key kind of guy.

Now, the late Al has become a legacy giver to Habitat for Humanity, worthy of a plaque and a story about his generous home donation to the organization.

But for Al, it wouldn’t be about him. It’s about what his donation will mean to the organization: building another house for someone in need and funding for one of the organization’s buildings.

“Every fall I am sitting at my desk thinking about how to build next year’s houses,” said Monica Craven, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of the Mahoning Valley. “We don’t get a lot of legacy gifts. We never get legacy gifts of this magnitude.”

Here’s the magnitude: Al’s house at 8949 Struthers Road in New Middletown is up for sale by Burgan Real State at $175,000. The proceeds will be enough to pretty much pay to build a Habitat home in Struthers next year and go toward the cost of starting up a Habitat ReStore, a non-profit home improvement store, in Trumbull County.

Read more about this extraordinary gift in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.