Thirty Cobb students start Habitat home
(Marietta Daily Journal, February 26, 2017)
By Jon Gargis
MABLETON — Even before they raised up the first wall during their day of work Saturday, volunteers from six Cobb high schools had already laid a solid foundation for what will become a family’s new home.
Thirty students from Campbell, Hillgrove, Kennesaw Mountain, Pope, Walton and Wheeler high schools took part Saturday in the first of nine weekends of construction of a Habitat for Humanity home on Lee Road in Mableton.
“The incredible thing about the young ones that are out here, they raised all $70,000 themselves for this build,” said David McGinnis, president and CEO of NW Metro Atlanta Habitat for Humanity. “These are our future leaders, and to see them come out and work energetically and excitingly, even on a cool, brisk morning, is really exciting.”
The six high schools are a part of the Cobb High School Coalition, with the Mableton house set to be the 33rd home constructed over the coalition’s 20-year period of participation with Habitat. When the three-bedroom, 1,446-square-foot house is completed, it will become the home of a family of four originally from Ghana who have lived in Georgia since the late 2000s, who now live and work in Cobb.
Among those who helped with Saturday’s construction was Bridget Helms, 18, a senior at Pope High School. She has been involved with Habitat throughout her high school years, with Saturday’s build being the third one in which she has taken part.
“My freshman year, I joined because I thought it would be good for college, but after that, I saw how wonderful it was in thecommunity. I didn’t do a build my freshman year, because you had to be a certain age (to take part), but after my first build, I decided to get more involved,” Helms said. “You don’t understand how great it is until you actually get out here and do it.”
Future weekends will see other students from the participating schools take part in the construction.
Cindy Ford is a media specialist and serves as the faculty adviser for the Hillgrove High School Habitat for Humanity Campus Chapter, which began last year with 70 students and has grown to 120 this year.
The chapter raises funds through membership dues, car washes and school spirit nights at local restaurants. Ford said while the group last year was able to raise funds to pay for a quarterday of building the home — about $2,000 — it was able to raise enough money to pay for a half-day build this year.
“They actually are service oriented, the kids who join, and they want to go out and do something to help other people,” Ford said, adding that students have to actively take part in the group in order to earn the privilege of taking part in a build.
Those who do, she adds, tend to find it personally rewarding.
“Some of them have never held a hammer. Some of them have never held a paintbrush. What’s really fantastic is at the end of the build, when they come to dedication day, they’ll say, ‘I built this room. I painted this bathroom.’ They have a sense of pride and a sense of ownership in something they’ve done.”
Helms said through her work with Habitat, she has seen how volunteering can directly impact others.
“I get to give back my time to the community and see the results of what one person, or what a whole community can do, for everyone else,” she said.
— Follow Jon Gargis on Twitter at twitter.com/ JonGargis.