Don’t Just Count Your Blessings, Share Them!

On Saturday, March 2^nd, a group of 25 volunteers came together to build for the day in celebration of Chris Maccarone’s 50^th birthday. In addition to recruiting their friends and family members to build alongside them at a multi-unit home in Woodbury, the Maccarones also raised over $1,000 to support Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity in making sure all Twin Cities families have a safe, affordable place to call home.

The Maccarones have long known the value of home and they understand how crucial a role a safe, stable home plays in a child’s health, educational success and future opportunities. The idea of home has been an important part in the lives of Lai and Chris Maccarone. Lai was born in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. She was forced to flee the country and landed in a refugee camp in the U.S.  Her mother and siblings were sponsored by a loving church in St. Paul, but shortly after arriving in the Twin Cities, her mother became ill and was no longer able to care for the family.  As a result, Lai and her siblings moved to several different homes throughout her childhood. Though there were multiple homes, they were all loving and supportive homes arranged through families within her church. In contrast to Lai’s childhood, Chris grew up in one home his entire life in Connecticut with his parents and siblings within the loving walls his parents built when they first were married. 

While their home scenarios were very different, the values of family, service, gratitude and a sense of community became deeply rooted for both Lai and Chris. The Maccarone family motto is “Don’t just count your blessings, share them!” That motto manifests itself in many aspects of their lives – especially in how they celebrate birthdays.

The Maccarones have always looked for fun, creative ways to celebrate birthdays. Their children’s birthday parties with their own friends have always been donation parties. The kids get to choose the charity and then they collect items and donations from their guests in lieu of birthday gifts. Some examples include collecting pajamas for the Pajama Program, food items for a food shelf and diapers and wipes for the local community program.

For Chris’ 50^th birthday this year, Lai wanted to come up with an equally creative and giving way to celebrate. With the blessings of strong friendships and good health, the couple and their friends put hammer to nail alongside the future homeowners of one of the units.  This work became a party to honor not only Chris, but also to celebrate the opportunity a safe home can provide to another family and their future generations. It was a day of birthday cake and hard hats, but mostly, it was a day of friends and family coming together to share their blessings.