Warren Haynes: Hell of a guy

"Thursday's heavy rains made gardening impossible, but that's what Suzie Cromer was thinking about.

"Cromer is looking forward to tending flower beds in the yard of the new home she received from Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity. The home was built with proceeds from the 2007 Warren Haynes Christmas Jam.

" 'I think it's a great opportunity,' Cromer said of the home. 'It's the best opportunity.' ..."

Musicians, actors, celebrities oftentimes overstep their fame by telling us who we should vote for, what causes we should back, etc. But sometimes these are just good people doing great things. We've noted for some time the Asheville Citizen-Times' great coverage of Haynes and his annual Christmas Jam, which raises money for Habitat.

"Haynes, a Grammy-winning guitarist known for his band Gov't Mule, presented the keys to the home in the Habitat for Humanity Enka Hills community to the Cromers on Thursday afternoon," according to the paper. Haynes has funded about 10 percent of all the homes the organization has built in the Asheville area.

Not too shabby.

All proceeds from the annual concert go toward the organization's building projects. It has pumped $665,000 into the Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity, allowing the organization to build about 12 homes. Habitat usually builds two homes each year with money raised from the jam.

For Haynes, meeting the families who receive the homes “makes it all very omnipresent.” When he first started making this now-annual appearance in the neighborhood, he said he found it very emotional.

“It makes you realize what you are doing this for,” he said.