University of Richmond Alumni Match Dollars Raised in 5K Run for Shelter

May 19, 2003

Andrew and Anne Perkins Wert of Tokyo contributed more than $6,600 to the University of Richmond's Habitat for Humanity chapter in a dollar-for-dollar match of money raised in a 5K "Run for Shelter" held April 5.

The total raised by the race was $13,236, according to the Rev. David Burhans, campus Habitat adviser. The chapter, along with representatives of fraternities and sororities, worked about a year to raise the needed $50,000 to blitz build a Habitat house in Chesterfield County April 7-12. Including the match, students also gave an additional $11,000 cash and in-kind donations to the Metropolitan Richmond Habitat for Humanity for other projects.

Both University of Richmond alumni, the Werts moved to Tokyo from Paris in January 2003. He is a 1996 graduate and works as a derivatives trader for the French bank BNP Paribas. Anne Perkins Wert graduated in 1997 and is a substitute teacher for third grade at an international school. They have been supportive of Habitat for Humanity since their 2000 wedding, when they asked guests to make a donation to Richmond Habitat in lieu of a gift.

The University of Richmond chapter of Habitat has raised nearly $300,000 since its inception in 1988 and has contributed labor to build more than 150 houses in the Richmond area.