DCCC Students Will Help Build Habitat Home During Spring Break March 6-12

February 25, 2011

Myra Thompson
Davidson County Community College

Four Davidson County Community College students will spend their upcoming spring break near Hilton Head, South Carolina, but they won’t be lounging on the beach. Instead, they will perform labors of love constructing a Habitat for Humanity home for a deserving family.

The DCCC students will take a break from classes to learn new skills as carpenters, painters and landscapers during the service-learning trip March 6-12. The alternative spring break offers students an opportunity to participate in a meaningful activity along with other college and university students from across the country.

Britney Cowan, the DCCC staff advisor who will accompany the students, said the group is looking forward to the trip. “Our students will work alongside students from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee in the Habitat for Humanity Collegiate Challenge Alternative Spring Break,” said Cowan.

Making the trip are Emily Wall of Lexington, Rachel Hodge of Asheboro, Cheyenne Sluder of Denton, and Sabrina Sluder of Thomasville. They will help build the Habitat home Tuesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on Saturday morning. The only free day they have is Monday, March 14, which they will spend in Hilton Head or Savannah, Ga.

Although the DCCC Foundation donated the host-affiliate contribution fee necessary for the service-learning project, each student and their advisor paid a $20 registration fee to participate. The Lexington and Thomasville Rotary clubs each awarded funds to help pay for the students’ food and supplies.

Habitat for Humanity International was founded in 1976 as a nonprofit, ecumenical, housing ministry. Its mission is to build decent homes using volunteer labor to replace substandard dwellings. The houses are sold to partner families at no profit and are financed with affordable loans. The homeowners’ monthly mortgage payments enter a revolving Fund for Humanity that is used to build future homes.  Habitat is currently building in more than 3,000 locations and in more than 90 countries around the world.

(From left) Britney Cowan, DCCC student advisor, and DCCC students Emily Wall of Lexington, Cheyenne Sluder of Denton, and Rachel Hodge of Asheboro, who will help build a Habitat Home near Hilton Head, S.C. as part of the 2011 Alternative Spring Break initiative. Not shown is DCCC student Sabrina Sluder of Thomasville.