Help families in need by buying gingerbread house kit at any Lazy Dog location

BREA, Calif. (KABC) -- You can help make a bit of magic this holiday season by turning gingerbread houses into real houses for people in need.

Lazy Dog Restaurants teamed up with Habitat for Humanity to help the less fortunate. All you have to do is visit a Lazy Dog location, order your food and then buy a gingerbread house kit for $5.95. While you wait for your food, you can build the gingerbread house at your table. All proceeds from the gingerbread house kit sales will go to Habitat for Humanity.

"We've always thought of Lazy Dog as kind of your home away from home, so it's a perfect partnership to come together and help our communities in need," said Chris Simms, Founder and CEO of Lazy Dog Restaurants.

"We'll be building homes for families all over the nation because of those gingerbread houses and the proceeds that we're going to be receiving," said Allison Green of Habitat for Humanity International.

Habitat for Humanity International gives qualified applicants a no-to-low interest mortgage, as affordable housing continues to be out of reach for many across the nation.

"We're actually seeing that one in six families are paying more than 50% of their take home pay on the place they call home and we just don't think that's right," said Green.

According to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, that's the reality for one in five households in California.

Armando Raygoza remembers a time when his parents struggled to make ends meet. His life changed in 2008 when Habitat for Humanity approved his family for a mortgage they could afford. Today, Raygoza runs his own business, has a family of his own and is a first-time homeowner.

If you want to help those in need, simply visit your local Lazy Dog location and ask for a gingerbread house kit.