Illinois ASB

The third week of Alternative Spring Break was a bang-up good one. Pontotoc County Habitat for Humanity hosted twenty-four volunteers. Half were University of Illinois students, and half were members of a church group not much further from Champaign/ Urbana than Pontotoc is from Oxford.

The University students were evenly divided by sex, six girls and six boys. The church group had a ration of two males per female.

One of the boys from the University of Illinois had been here two years ago on Spring Break. Some of the adults in the church group were here as volunteers in ’05. It makes those of us who are affiliated with PCHFH proud when we get repeaters. It tells us we’re doing something right, if folks want to keep coming back.

I’m somewhat amazed at the amount of work that was accomplished by the large group. Decking was placed on the high roof of the house and rafters for the lower roof are ready for decking. Our warehouse renovation project is now light years (exaggeration) ahead of schedule, thanks to the work of two experienced builders, an electrician, and a small group of students who helped relocate a number of odd windows to an adjacent storage area.

While everyone had the opportunity to drive a nail or two, I would be remiss not to credit the university students for their dirt work. They dug out the ply board that was used to stay the concrete foundation, removed all the soil that filled a road ditch necessary to prevent a dirt road from washing away, and dug a ditch twenty-five feet long and approximately three feet wide and three feet deep to accommodate a large culvert for a driveway.

I’m very appreciative of the church groups that feed our volunteers each night and for those that provided lunch two days. From what I could see, everyone including three vegetarians were well fed.

As long as America raises up young people such as these two groups and the groups of volunteers who participated in Alternate Spring Break during the prior two weeks, our nation has no reason not to prosper. Thank you one and all.

Bowdoin Crew

The salutation of the thank-you note read “Bowdoin Crew” and was signed by the eleven volunteers from Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, who spent half of their Spring Break working on a new house for Pontotoc County Habitat for Humanity.

Penned by one of the leaders of the group, the note expressed their shared sentiments of appreciation for the role I played in working beside them and sharing something of my love of Pontotoc with them. Collectively, they resolved to “stay in touch” via The Bodock Post, the monthly newsletter that I co-edit and publish. Perhaps, they will.

This was the fourth group we’ve hosted from Bowdoin in the last five years. While each group has been unique in composition by sex and differing personalities, they’ve been alike in representing the best of the selfless spirit of many of today’s young people. It is one thing to spend a large sum of money for self-gratification, but it’s another thing to spend that same money to help others.

The Bowdoin Crew bore all the expenses of their journey: air travel, van rental, most of their meals, and made a generous donation to our local Habitat affiliate. For their investment they received free evening meals provided by local church groups, a church gym in which to sleep each night and the sense of satisfaction that comes in knowing one’s efforts to help others is worthwhile and appreciated.

On the work site, ours was a shared learning experience. My carpentry/ building skills are limited, though perhaps it’s accurate to say, “more advanced than theirs.” Each day there was something different to do, and each day both young men and young women gave their best efforts with the tasks at hand.

In time these eleven individuals will forget the names of the local volunteers they met while working and/or fellowshipping at mealtime, and they’re likely to forget most everything they learned of our local history, but I expect the Pontotoc Experience will last them a lifetime. I also expect some of them will be back next year or the next and bring others with them, as their friends will hardly believe what a great place Pontotoc is until they experience our land and people for themselves.

I am thankful for each of them, and my life is now richer in my having worked with them for a common good. Though my body begs otherwise, my mind tells me I’d stay young forever if I could be with a group such as these every week.

Thank you, one and all. May you remain faithful in well-doing throughout life, and may God bless everyone.

UCF Volunteers ~ Thank You

I have fellowshipped with a lot of volunteer groups of young people over the past ten years that my wife has been Executive Director of Pontotoc County Habitat for Humanity, yet the recent group from UCF distinguished itself and won a special place in my heart. While it’s true that they “hammered like girls,” they never faltered with their assigned tasks, and by week’s end several were proficient with the hammer.

Their week on the work site began on a newly poured concrete slab. It ended with their having raised all exterior and interior walls and the OSB outside sheathing covering one end and two corners of the new outside walls.

As these young people interacted with members of our community, their good conduct, their enthusiasm for life, and their willingness to help others was exemplified again and again and duly noted by our residents.

Personally, my life has been made richer, having had the opportunity to get to each know each one of them and by working hand in hand with each. I am both blessed and thankful for an unforgettable experience.