Though Saturday marked the second time this year gray skies have threatened a Habitat for Humanity build, it wasn’t enough to keep more than 200 volunteers from completing the club’s yearlong goal.

Volunteers from Ithaca College, Cornell University and the Ithaca community spent the day in the Lowe’s parking lot building the framework of a house that will be shipped to Mississippi for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Habitat for Humanity is an international nonprofit organization that aims to build affordable housing for families. The college’s chapter joined forces with the Cornell University chapter and local affiliates to organize the one-day build and fundraiser.

“The rain didn’t stop people at all,” said junior Ainsley Smith, co-president of Habitat. “Everyone was so motivated to do it.”

Senior Janine Fiala, co-president of Habitat, has been involved in the yearlong fundraising efforts to make the $75,000 “Home-in-a-box” project happen. The college’s chapter and Cornell’s chapter raised around $10,000. The rest of the project was funded by an anonymous corporate sponsor.

“When we heard $75,000 we were like, ‘Are we crazy?’” Fiala said. “It’s been a hard year, but we really stuck with it.”

The national “Home-in-a-Box” project was inspired by NBC’s “Today Show.” Earlier this fall, Habitat For Humanity, NBC and Warner Brothers Music teamed up to send 20 house frames to communities in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.

Deb Mohlenhoff, coordinator for community service and leadership at the college, headed public relations for the project. She saw the damage Hurricane Katrina caused first-hand and commended students’ willingness to help.

“It’s very frustrating to see that after all this time nothing has really changed down there,” she said. “For all these people to be able to help, it’s really inspiring and encouraging.”

Unlike volunteers who traveled to the chapter’s last build in Cortland, Saturday’s volunteers won’t meet the family who will live in the house they built. But Jenny Pickett, the college’s coordinator for residential facilities and the organization’s adviser, said it doesn’t change the volunteers’ experience.

“I enjoy that relationship [with the homeowners],” she said. “But since we know that the house is going to someone affected by Hurricane Katrina, it’s really nice.”

Mohlenhoff said the college’s chapter was the driving force behind fundraising and bringing Cornell students and the local chapter together.

“They were doing all the hard work and asking the hard questions,” she said.

The build included volunteers from each of the colleges, Ithaca High School and Cortland and Ithaca community members. Saturday’s event included food, a DJ and craft tables where kids made cards for the family who will receive the house. Fiala was happy with the turnout, especially considering the time and the weather, she said.

“For so many college kids to be up so early in the morning is very impressive,” she said.

Three former Habitat members came to see the end results of their efforts including Kevin Palmer ’06. He said it has always been a dream of Habitat to have a build on campus, but the build at Lowe’s allowed more people to participate.

“It’s really nice to see all these organizations come together in one place,” he said.

Palmer said he was also impressed with the amount of work they were able to get done in only one day.

“This is the same amount of work we usually do in a week during a spring break build,” he said.

The build also included a tool drive to support the club chapters affected by Katrina.

“They don’t even have the tools to do a build down there,” Mohlenhoff said.