Volunteering with Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley satisfies John Christianson's need for a "real tangible way to eradicate poverty and change lives."

"Poverty just seems so unjust to me," Christianson said. "I've been fortunate in my life to never have experienced not having a place to live and not having enough food to eat."

Prior to moving to Colorado in July 2006, Christianson helped form a music group called "A Bunch of Guys" which has raised more than $200,000 to help eradicate hunger through live performances and CD sales.

"The cool thing about Habitat is that at the beginning of the day you have a house that's missing stuff and by the end of the day at least some of that stuff that was missing in the morning is now done," he said.

Christianson, who works as a researcher at the University of Colorado-Boulder, began volunteering with Habitat about a year and a half ago and has done everything from working construction with other volunteers to fundraising projects. Most recently, Christianson chairs the Church Relations Committee, and heads up the Apostles Build, a coalition of 10 local churches sharing the cost and providing volunteers to build a Habitat home in Longmont.

"Habitat isn't like Extreme Makeover where it's just a free gift," Christianson said. Habitat homeowners invest sweat equity and pay a mortgage, which he said helps them to value their property along with renewing funds available to build more houses.

For information about volunteering with Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley or other agencies, call the Volunteer Connection at 303-444-4904.