AMERICUS — June Ewing, Ph.D., Americus resident and professor emerita of Georgia Southwestern State University,j oins hundreds of Fuller Center for Housing volunteers in El Salvador Nov. 17-22 for the annual Millard and Linda Fuller Blitz Build.

“We're building 16 houses for needy families in five days,” says Ewing. “These are poor but hardworking people living in makeshift shelters and shacks with tin roofs, and we're helping them move into decent, modest homes that are safe and clean.”

The families will help build their own homes along with volunteers from the U.S. and several other countries, and they will pay back the cost of materials through no-interest, no-profit mortgages they can afford.

Ewing is a board member of The Fuller Center for Housing, headquartered in Americus, and is sponsoring one of the homes, which cost $5,500. More sponsorships of houses are needed, not only for the Blitz Build, but also for the additional 44 houses that will be built at the project in the future. Ewing is challenging readers of the Americus Times-Recorder to help sponsor more houses in the community in El Salvador with a unique contest and a raffle in which donors can win original works of art.

“I enjoy painting, and I have been blessed to have wonderful teachers around the country and to meet many great artists,” states Ewing.

“One of my teachers, Mary Carole Larsen (www.marycarole.com), a noted artist from San Luis Obispo, Calif., has donated a beautiful original oil painting entitled Renaissance Lady to help raise money for this project.”

The donor who makes the largest gift over $1,000 before Dec. 1 will receive this painting, which measures 18 by 24 inches and is encased in a wide gold-leaf frame.

Because all donations are important, every person whose donation, of any amount, is received by Dec. 1 will be entered in a drawing to win one of four additional original oil paintings. These four paintings were donated by two other well-known art teachers, Dorothy Dent of Missouri (www.ddent.com) and Barbara Smenner of Manchester, Ga. (www.barbarasmenner.com).

All donations are tax-deductible and can be mailed to The Fuller Center for Housing, P.O. Box 523, Americus GA 31709. Online donations can be made through The Fuller Center Web site, www.fullercenter.org. Please note in the memo line of your check or in the comment section online that the donation is for “Ewing Art Project.”

“As a member of the board of directors of The Fuller Center for Housing, I can assure you that 100 percent of your donation will go to build homes in El Salvador. And even though the paintings are truly lovely, your greatest reward is knowing that you have helped someone have a safe and decent home,” says Ewing.

To learn more about The Fuller Center for housing and about the El Salvador project, visit www.fullercenter.org or call 924-2900.