When Doug Davidson, President of New South Construction Company asked his employees to consider a community based charity they would like to be more directly involved in, they decided on something they know well; construction. New South Construction Company is an Atlanta based general contractor that has built many private and public buildings in Georgia and the Metro Atlanta area for the past 17 years. Over the years, New South Construction has been involved with Habitat for Humanity projects, but they continued to look for other opportunities to give back to the Atlanta community. On Saturday, February 16, 2008, eighteen New South Construction Company employees, including Mr. Davidson, took time to lend a helping hand at the Atlanta Community ToolBank. The ToolBank is an organization that provides a vast tool library that loans tools and equipment to non-profit, community-based organizations for use in mission-advancing service projects. The New South Construction Company team event was sponsored through HouseProud,an organization that effectively recognizes two clients: homeowners and neighborhoods. HouseProud strengthens five downtown Atlanta neighborhoods by providing critical home repairs to low-income senior and/or disabled homeowners at no cost to the homeowner.

The day started out at 8:00 AM with all the volunteers meeting at their West Peachtree Street office in midtown Atlanta. From this location, all eighteen employees carpooled to the ToolBank where Lisa Garcia, Program Manager for HouseProud, provided a brief orientation and tour of the Atlanta Community ToolBank facility. Once the New South Construction Team received their assignment, the group drove to the home of Mrs. Whitehead, a delightful woman who has been living in close vicinity to the Atlanta Braves Stadium, since the home was built in 1990.

The event was very structured, with all of the employees pitching in from the moment they piled out of their vehicles. The work started immediately, with removal of dirt and scraping of the old flaking paint on this 18-year old faded home. The group took great care to perform the job right, raking leaves away from the house,  making certain repainting of the trim and siding was a thorough job. Ms. Garcia, Program Manager with ToolBank, commented once the project was completed, "New South volunteers are definitely go-getters, I’ve never seen a group of folks paint a house so meticulously in such a short period of time!"

The entire experience was extremely rewarding and gratifying to all New South Construction employees attending the event. New South Construction has a similar event planned in May with over 20 volunteers to perform work at another home for the same organization.