Classic Homes of Maryland custom home builder, Prem Puri, was honored with the prestigious President’s Award at the Xi Sigma Omega Chapter’s 30th Anniversary celebration on Saturday June 8th at the Gaithersburg Marriott in Washingtonian Center.
The event brought together 300 guests to honor the service achievements of this local branch of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sisterhood and Service Sorority. Classic Homes’ Prem Puri was among nine members of the community, selected for demonstrating “an overwhelming commitment and dedication to helping and serving others.”
This month marks the 5 year anniversary of one of Mr. Puri’s proudest moments of community service, building a home for Ms. Felicia Jackson, a mother of four, who had recently agreed to take on the task of raising her dying sister’s ten children. When approached by ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”, Prem was so deeply moved by Ms. Jackson’s story, he agreed to take on the seemingly insurmountable task of building an entire home in only one week, a project that would normally take the family owned business a minimum of six months.
Classic Homes covered the cost of construction, and with help from the entire company staff, hundreds of volunteers, and donations from various contractors, the home was completed on schedule. Today Classic Homes continues to maintain its relationship with Ms Jackson and her family. After over 5 years of wear and tear by 14 children, Classic Homes recently replaced all of the hardwood flooring in the home. Several of Ms Jackson’s children attended the award ceremony to express their appreciation of Prem and Classic Homes of Maryland.
Prem’s charitable work extends beyond Montgomery County, MD. He is also the founder of the DD Puri Foundation, a non-profit organization that he created in 1998 to provide essential medical care to those in need in his home country of India, as well as East Africa, South Asia and the Pacific. Today the DD Puri Foundation is involved in projects ranging from scholarships for war survivors from East Africa, to building a new facility for the invaluable Patiala School for the Deaf and Blind in Pujab, India.
Classic Homes of Maryland has been consistently recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in the DC metro area. Having done well for himself and his family, Prem says “I would now like the fruits of my labor to benefit others.”