Rather than making a break to the beach for a week of sunbathing or chilling out at home during spring break, 10 Covenant College students stayed in Chattanooga and built a house.
The students partnered with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga to construct a house for Betty Grider, a Chattanooga native, and her two daughters.
“The students had a tremendous impact throughout the week, transforming a lot with a concrete foundation to the site of a home with all of their hard work,” said Becky Holton, a 2005 graduate of Covenant who now works for Habitat for Humanity.
“They were able to get the house under a roof, wrapped, and install windows and doors by the end of the week. As a result, Betty Grider and her girls will be able to move in within the next few months!”
The students spent six days constructing the house, while dedicating one day to the painting of Habitat’s Home Store, a thrift store that sells building and home materials. In the evenings, Covenant College faculty and staff members hosted the team in their homes for dinner. Breakfast throughout the week was generously provided by Starbucks, and lunches were donated by Moe’s Southwest Grill, Buffalo Wild Wings, Fazoli’s, Papa John’s Pizza, Smokey Bones Barbeque, Subway, Wal-Mart, Greenlife Grocery, Chick-fil-A, and Cold Stone Creamery.
This is not the first year Covenant College students have volunteered with Habitat for Humanity during spring break. “Our first year (2004),” said Ms. Holton. “Twelve Covenant students and Dr. Frank Brock (president of the Covenant College Foundation) built an entire house in Columbus, Ga., in conjunction with Muskingum College. We really wanted to have a very tangible way to serve the community for Christ and put into practice all of the things that we’d learned the past few years (at Covenant).” The following year, student volunteers performed detail work on three Habitat houses in Chattanooga’s Shepherd Park neighborhood.
The house students built this year for Ms. Grider was funded by the Clarence E. Harris Foundation.
Students participating in the build this year included Lauren Bourque, Anna Clegg, Matt Clegg, Kathryn Franklin, Jonathan Janos, Alyssa Johnson, Larry Swetman, Gabi Van Schoyck, Mark Watanabe, and Wilson Whitaker.
“Spring break was really an amazing experience.” said freshman Kathryn Franklin. “I loved being able to spend time in, get to know, and serve the (Chattanooga) community. Praise God for what he’s doing through Habitat.”
For sophomore Lauren Bourque, the spring break project hit close to home. “My thoughts about caring and providing for those who need it were usually directed towards the needy overseas. But while doing this Habitat for Humanity project I realized that, while there is always someone somewhere with a greater need, there are people who need provision and shelter just a stone’s throw away from me.”