Army of volunteers lay foundation for this year’s St. Jude Dream Home

MONROE, N.C. (WBTV) - Construction is off and running at the site of this year’s St. Jude Dream Home in Monroe, North Carolina.

Over the weekend dozens of volunteer brick masons from McGee Brothers and Huntley Brothers came out to help dream home builder Jeff Newton and his team from Newton Custom Homes and Realty lay the foundation of this year’s home.

The dream home is built from the ground up by professionals who all volunteer their time so that all of the money raised from selling tickets for a chance to win the home can go straight to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

“Many of these guys work for different companies and they are competitors, but they come together to do this for these kids,” said Newton, who has been leading the charge for nine of the 10 years of the Charlotte campaign. “It’s a beautiful thing to see.”

Because there were more than 75 volunteers, they were able to get it all done in under three hours.

Matt Snyder of Carolina Ready Mix and his son Ellis come out to help each year. It’s particularly meaningful for them because just a few years ago Ellis was a St. Jude patient.

“We’ve been the family has walked into St. Jude and were told your child has cancer, said Matt. “It reaches a new level when it hits home, so every year, year after year it’s the least we can do.”

Matt says Ellis just turned 10 this week. Ellis was just 2 years old when he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

“They really do save children’s lives,” said Matt. “He’s living proof [St. Jude] will not stop until no child dies at the dawn of the [of their life]. Can’t be more thankful for St. Jude.”

Ellis sees volunteering as his way to still give back to other kids fighting cancer. “I feel good because I’m helping the kids that need it,” said Ellis.

You can learn more about this year’s beautiful modern ranch-style home here.

You will be able to get your ticket for a chance to win for $100 in July 2023. Our goal is to sell 30,000 tickets to raise $3 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Copyright 2023 WBTV. All rights reserved.