BALTIMORE, Feb. 3, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- What was once a condemned house at 1606 N. Gilmore St. is today the newly-renovated home of Leticia Smith and her family, thanks to a community partnership between Sandtown Habitat for Humanity and Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC).
A photo accompanying this release is available at http://media.globenewswire.com/noc/mediagallery.html?pkgid=7053
During a dedication ceremony and open house held on Jan. 23, James F. Pitts, corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman’s Electronic Systems sector, presented Smith and her family the keys to their new home, while thanking the 130 Northrop Grumman employees, family members and friends who volunteered more than 1,600 hours over a nine month period toward accomplishing the extensive home renovation effort.
“This is a tremendous day for everyone,” said Pitts. “We are proud to be part of this event. The ability of our employees to work a full day and then come and put in the hours to make this house a home is admirable.”
Under the guidance of Sandtown Habitat for Humanity representatives, the Northrop Grumman employee volunteers, families and friends worked on a variety of construction activities including wood framing, roofing, drywall, flooring and painting, among other tasks.
During the ceremony, the Northrop Grumman executive announced that the corporation would be investing $50,000 in the year ahead to sponsor another Sandtown Habitat for Humanity home renovation effort.
“At Sandtown Habitat we are responding to the challenge of rebuilding homes and hope in our community,” said Michael Barb, Resource Development manager at Sandtown Habitat for Humanity. “The employees of Northrop Grumman have enthusiastically engaged in partnership with us in this effort. They have corporately and individually 'let their light shine,' and on Saturday, we celebrated together with the Smith family as they became homeowners for the first time.”
Sandtown Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit Christian housing organization in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood of West Baltimore with the purpose of rebuilding the vacant housing in Sandtown, increasing homeownership and improving the health of the community.
Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global security company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide.
