Volunteer Global

Five hundred hours of volunteer work

It’s 6:30 AM in Liberty City and the weather is a bit on the chilly side this February morning. People are milling around, drinking coffee and juices and eating bagels and bananas. There are long lines surrounding a table of people checking in. Some of us are looking around the area, perhaps wondering where we will be placed and what we would be doing once we got there. A man dressed in blue jeans and a work shirt walks up to the front of the crowd, raises the megaphone he was carrying and asks all of us for our attention. He starts off by thanking us, all of us, for coming out this day for the 2007 Habitat for Humanity Blitz Build. Someone shouts an enthusiastic “yeah!” that made some of us smile in agreement.

The gentleman from Habitat proceeds to talk about what the organization is about, a Christian organization building homes for low-income families who want a decent place to live and to raise a family. He talks about the homeowners who put their own sweat and hard work into building, not only their own home, but also other homes. “Five Hundred hours of volunteer work is what each homeowner agrees to when they sign up for Habitat” he states. His speech also includes safety concerns, how to look out for “snakes” (nails sticking out of a piece of wood for you novices) how to be sure to drink plenty of fluids, and finally he explains that since Habitat is a Christian organization he will close in a prayer. Those who wished bowed their heads as he quoted scripture and said a spirit lifting, energizing prayer. After the prayer, we were all given the number of the house we would be working on. Off we went, over one hundred volunteers.

Taneesha's house

My friends David, Elio and I started down the road to our house number nine on the corner lot. We arrived at a small light blue house owned by Taneesha Taylor, a young mother of six. As our group gathered outside to greet our house foreman, we got a sense of what we would be doing this day. Our foreman confirmed that we would be painting the interior of the house and preparing the floors for tiling the next day. After a brief speech, we grabbed our tools, paint and safety glasses and went to work. David, Elio and I started masking off the kitchen area and cabinets so we could paint the walls and windows. Others spread out throughout the home, picking their niche to paint.  Most of the day was spent painting.

To pass the time, at one point someone mentioned Broadway tunes. We all started singing songs from our favorite shows. Then it turned into an 80’s one hit wonder name that tune fest. We had such a wonderful time and before we knew it, the interior was complete, the floors were scraped and we had extra time to plant trees in the front and side yards. While some of our group gathered the paint buckets and brushes to wash off with the hose, some started to dig holes for the trees. David and I were asked to accompany a gentleman from Habitat to bring back a refrigerator for another house on the build site. It was a welcome break, and when we were finished installing the appliance in the other home, the owner of the home smiled and me and said “ Thank you. I can now have something cold to drink.” For such a simple statement, it struck me hard, and made me appreciate the simple things at that moment.

Building new on top of old

When David and I returned to our little blue house, almost all of the holes were dug for the trees and they were starting to be planted. David grabbed a small spare shovel and started to dig a hole. I walked over to the nearby cooler to grab us some water to drink. Near the cooler was a pile of fresh dirt from one of the holes dug for the trees. I happened to look down and saw a small blue object, so I picked it up. I looked at it for a while and brought it over to David. “Look at this David. It looks like a piece of tile from a kitchen or bathroom.” “Yeah. Cool.” was his response. “Yeah, it is cool.” I said and I stopped and looked around the build site at all the other houses being built.

It finally hit me. That little piece of blue tile was a part of what once stood where we were building the houses. We were building new on top of old. That was the reason we were all there. To give hope and new beginnings to families that might not have had that chance. As I looked around some more, I thought of all the people there working on the houses. It didn’t matter who you were, or where you came from. We were all working together for a cause, with sweat on our brows, and smiles on our faces, we were one. I am pretty sure that everyone left the site that day tired, and sore, but at least for me, it was well worth it.

Published with permission from Allison A. - do not duplicate!