Habitat participation makes for a pleasant surprise

Met with a tremendous outpouring of interest, the UNC Habitat for Humanity Web site last week informed potential volunteers that there were absolutely no more spaces available for the campus-wide Blitz Build, "no matter how much you beg and plead."

With more than 100 volunteers from all areas of the campus community, UNC Habitat members said the Blitz Build, which took place Friday, Saturday and Sunday, was a volunteering success.

Becca Sowder, the build's coordinator, said the huge response to the request for volunteers was a pleasant surprise.

"We didn't know what to expect," Sowder said. "The whole reason we decided to do (the Blitz Build) was to increase participation on campus. We wanted to give Habitat a more community-centered aspect."

University faculty, staff and students joined together to build a new house for UNC employee Linda Parson in what some said was a truly unifying event.

"I think it's mind-blowing that we're all building this house for someone in the University community," said volunteer Rushdee Omar, a program assistant in the School of Law. "It's a definite plus for the community."

Jean DeSaix, UNC Habitat's faculty adviser, also said the Blitz Build had a positive effect on the University.

"Any time faculty and staff do stuff with students outside of the classroom, it is a win-win situation," she said. "The idea that lots of people across the University community are involved in the same thing introduces a dialogue beyond the event itself."

But bringing the University community together was just one aspect of the three-day event -- volunteers also had to build the house.

Volunteer Seth Hopper, a first-year physics graduate student, said his work on the project started a few weeks before Blitz Build, when he visited the site. He said he enjoyed every minute of it.

"It's a blast," Hopper said. "You can look at what you've done at the end of the day and actually see what you've accomplished ... not like homework."

Marie Fholer, an administrative manager in the sociology department, volunteered with her husband on the weekend build. She said participating in a Habitat project was something they always had a desire to do.

"This was our opportunity to finally join a build," she said. "I think it's a great thing to do, and any time an organization can get the whole University behind it, only good can come of it."

Volunteers not only helped with the actual build itself, but also contributed to the fund-raising efforts prior to the weekend.

Members of the Kenan-Flagler Business School hosted a charity golf tournament, an event which Holly Brown, a second-year masters of business administration student, said earned her a place on the build.

"We MBAs tend to get wrapped up in our work, and it's nice to realize there is a larger community that we're a part of and can get involved with," Brown said.

Although the project united people from all walks of University life, DeSaix said the success of the build should be attributed to the tireless efforts of the students involved in its planning and implementation.

"The faculty and staff here often imagine that things in the University happen because of them," she said. "But this has happened because of students. Students (were) driving this thing, and the rest of us (were) just along for the ride."

Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.