A select group of students will be traveling to Myrtle Beach for spring break this year, but not to relax in the sun — to build houses. Habitat for Humanity’s BGSU chapter is sending a group of ten to eleven of its members to Myrtle Beach to build homes for less fortunate people in the area.
The volunteers will not find out exactly what they will be working on until they arrive in Myrtle Beach, but they do know that they will be working on one or several homes from Monday, March 10 until Friday, March 14, for eight hours each day.
“[The students] will still get time to relax,” University’s Habitat for Humanity president Kevin Reisinger said.
The future owners of the homes and other volunteers, including professional home builders, will be assisting the students. The members individually have to pay for the trip, but fundraisers and donations help minimize the cost to them.
The members of the group have been planning for the trip for quite some time, as they had to register for it in the fall of 2002. Habitat for Humanity sends members to various locations during spring break every year. Last year, students went to Florida and to Mississippi to build homes.
“Instead of going to Cancun or Daytona Beach, we build a house,” Reisinger said.
The trip is offered as part of the Collegiate Challenge program of Habitat for Humanity International. The program also offers similar trips to college students during fall, winter, and summer breaks. It depends on the willingness of inexperienced college students to travel and to learn construction skills to help others. “It’s a great opportunity because you give to the community, and you don’t need any experience to do it,” Katie Leisure, a member of the Habitat for Humanity chapter in BGSU, said.
