Santa’s house starts a new trend

CAROLINA BEACH, NC (WWAY) — Folks came together this year to help out a man a community knows as Santa Claus.

Today we have an update on the construction of Santa’s new house in Carolina Beach.

But this project has grown to be much more than just a new home.

The construction of Harry Buie’s house in Carolina Beach is coming along.

The structure is framed, the roof is on and the siding is being finished up this weekend.

Residents came together in the fall to start building him a new house for free because his was falling apart.

But recently, builders hit a snag.

“All of our subcontractors have donated their time for free, so I wasn’t too pushy on them,” Habitat for Harry lead builder Bryant Bass said. “Obviously when you’re asking a man to plumb the house for free, you can’t really say ‘hey, I need this done tomorrow’.” Fortunately, the building of this house should be done in the next 30 – 45 days.

But what has been created from this project is a new way to help people like Harry.

Bryant Bass, along with others in the area, is going to create a nonprofit organization to help those less fortunate, especially the elderly.

“There are a lot of elderly people that have been in their homes and have lost their spouse or their families have moved away and they just don’t have means or they don’t even ask for means and things have just gone too far,” Bass said. “I think that’s kind of where we’re going to be, trying to help people out.”

Bass wanted to make sure to thank all the volunteers who have done their part to help Harry and start this new trend.