The work of the Lafarge volunteers on Habitat building site provides

Eight families from Radauti with a new home.

30th of May 2005. Lafarge Group and Habitat for Humanity renewed their global partnership at the beginning of 2005 regarding their collaboration for the next 5 years. Thus, a team of Lafarge employees from France and Romania is working as volunteers now on the building site of Habitat for Humanity Radauti, county of Suceava, together with eight families in need of decent housing. This year is a first: the team of 19 Lafarge volunteers is made of managers, technicians and personnel from the corporate functional and administrative services and from Lafarge operational units from Romania.

Habitat for Humanity – Radauti affiliate is building 4 duplex houses for 8 families in need of housing. The Lafarge volunteer team is working at the interior finishes of the houses using 1800 sqm of gypsum plasterboard and other construction materials necessary for the construction works. The materials are donated by Lafarge Arcom Gips, the only manufacturer of gypsum plasterboard and associated systems in Romania.

On the 10th of July 2003, S.C. Lafarge Romcim and Habitat for Humanity Romania announced signing a 5-year partnership formalizing the Lafarge commitment to contribute at building and renovating houses in the towns where Habitat affiliates exist in order to provide simple, decent and affordable houses to low-income families. During the 5 years of partnership, the Lafarge operational units will support not only with a major contribution in construction materials, but also with teams of volunteers made of personnel from all managerial and operational levels who will effectively participate at building the houses, thus promoting, through personal example, the civic responsibility and personal and organizational volunteerism. In the fifth year of the partnership, Lafarge wants to build a house entirely with construction materials produced in Romania: cement, aggregates, concrete, gypsum plasterboards, and roofing.

“Through the partnership signed with Habitat for Humanity, Lafarge’s development policy on the coordinates of sustainable development acquires new real features: our construction materials improve people’s lives, and the social responsibility of our companies is a solution at our hand to build a sustainable future for Romanian communities. Our teams of employees are helping people who really need support”, said Bernard Kasriel, CEO of Lafarge Group.

Habitat for Humanity builds and renovates, with volunteer work, gifts-in-kind and cash donations, simple, decent and affordable houses together with the beneficiary families. Many local and foreign volunteers of various professions and social categories help building homes together with the homeowner families who work 500 to 1400 hours at building their own homes and the homes for other families. The houses are not given out, but the homeowner families will pay the houses in monthly payments at no profit and no interest to the organization, so new Habitat houses continue to be built for other needy families.

With a presence in over 3000 communities in 100 countries, Habitat for Humanity built almost 200,000 simple, decent and healthy houses worldwide so far, out of which 140 in Romania by Habitat affiliates from Beius, Cluj, Pitesti, Radauti, Craiova and Comanesti.

Lafarge is present in Romania since 1997 and has a capital investment of more than 300 million EUR in its operations: LAFARGE ROMCIM S.A, LAFARGE AGREGATE BETOANE S.A., LAFARGE ARCOM GIPS S.A. Through its decision to support the Habitat program, Lafarge added an important investment in increasing people’s life comfort and quality as a demonstration of its commitment of being a responsible member of the Romanian community.