I finally got to work on the local Habitat for Humanity project. I got up early yesterday and instead of going to the office I went to the building site. The VP of our department and a few senior managers showed up, as well as other co-workers.
The building was behind schedule. I’d signed up for framing, but they needed a ditch dug for the new plumbing lines. As it turned out, a few of us did do some framing. I thought that we would be making the sides of the house. Those had been made earlier in the week, and the first floor of the house was up. I did get to swing a hammer to cap off some of the walls, but most of the time was spent hammering up temporary supports as the H4H guy straightened the walls. Early on, I was pulling a nail from a board that was about level with the top of my head. The nail was tough, but it popped out unexpectedly. The hammer handle hit me on the outside of my right eyebrow. I have a bruise there now.
We broke for lunch at 11:30 and came back about 40 minutes later. I never did get into the ditches, but the H4H guy said the “driveway” needed to be cleaned up so that rain would not mess up the street overnight and I got to wield a pushbroom. At about 2:30 we were released to go home.
I was scheduled to work today as well. (Most people only signed up for a single day.) I got up extra early since the volunteers were asked to be at the site at 7:30 and it’s a long drive there from West L.A. (Besides, I wanted to drink a pot of coffee.) Heavy rain on the way down, but it lightened by the time I got to the site. But this was the leading edge of the storm front. It would pour later. The H4H guy told everyone that he didn’t want to work in the rain (which would have been futile in the ditches) and thanked everyone for coming.
And that was my Habitat for Humanity experience. I’m scheduled for drywalling in June.
Oh yeah… I didn’t know H4H is a Christian organization. I’m a Pagan, myself. Of course it wouldn’t have stopped me from volunteering; it was just one of those “Oh!” experiences.
Thank you for the indirect nag to call them to volunteer in the local office…I’m no good at physical work but I’m told they ALWAYS need office help.
And to show how non-annoying they are about it, I had no idea it was even nominally a Christian organization until this moment. Now, THAT’S Christian, IMO, of them.
Oh, I didn’t intend to nag.
Hey, ya know what? I’m a klutz. I was lying on the floor with a blanket wrapped around me. I took the top edge of the blanket to pull it up and it seems I didn’t take into account that I was lying on half of it. My hand slipped off and I got a knuckle in my Habitat for Humanity souvenier bruise. :smack:
No, I NEED the nag. I keep forgetting to call! No problem at all.
My Alumni Club is doing it April 5th in Overtown. We are challenging other alumni clubs to come up with more people, and are having a reception afterwards to award the plaque for best participation. Thoughts are to make this a regular event. I am not looking forward to 7:45am that Saturday, but it’ll be fun work.
Well, the cool thing is that it’s Christian from the standpoint of “It’s the right thing to do” to house the least of you. It’s not about spreading the word or witnessing or converting prospective homeowners.
It’s a wonderful organization, as good for the volunteers and communities as it is for the families who buy the homes.
I have worked at several Habitat worksites, and in general they do not push the Christian thing on anyone. I am also Pagan, and if they did try to push Christianity on me it would have been difficult for me.
There was one individual guy who one time tried to start the “have you accepted Jesus Christ as your savior?” thing with me, but he backed off when I made it clear that I was not interested. It was also pretty clear that he was acting on his own and not as a representative of the Habitat organization when he tried to “witness” to me.