by CASEY LABRACK

Volunteers from among Washington Redskins players and Bank of America employees started construction on a charity home for a local family today in the FedExField parking lot.

More than 50 volunteers began working in the stadium parking lot at 7:30 a.m. and managed to raise a wall section in a ranch-style home that will be donated to one needy family.

The project is part of a $6 million donation by the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, together with the Redskins, to benefit Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that works to develop affordable housing.

Observer photo by Lagan Sebert
Piaarasina Jimenez helps build her new house

“It took me totally by surprise, when they first called me and informed me that the Redskins will in fact sponsor my home,” said Piaarasina Jimenez, 29, who hopes to move into the completed house with her family sometime in February. “I couldn’t ask for a better team.”

The mood on the first official day of construction, which was meant to be a celebration and a media event as much as a day of work, was dampened by news of the death of Redskins safety Sean Taylor, who died this morning from a gunshot wound he sustained Monday during an attack at home.

“It’s a tough day in the Redskin community. We lost a young and very talented individual in the prime of his life and career,” said Mike Bragg, a punter for the Redskins from 1968-1979, who was one of a few Redskins in attendance despite Taylor’s passing.

Jimenez will share the completed home with her daughter and her mother, who has relied on Jimenez for support since her diagnosis of type II diabetes 11 years ago.

Although construction will continue to take place in Lot A of the Redskins parking lot, once the house is stable enough to move, it will be trucked whole to a lot in Fairmont Heights.

Asked if the experience had made her more of a Redskins fan, Jimenez said, “I think definitely yes, without any question.”

One Redskins fan received a gift today she says she’ll never forget. The American Observer’s Lagan Sebert reports from FedEx Field in Maryland about the Redskins Habitat for Humanity project. It’s also a sad day for Redskins fans as they mourn the shooting death of star safety Sean Taylor.