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Visitors help build community
By CHASE SQUIRES, Times Staff Writer DADE CITY -- For some teenagers, summer might mean serving ice cream at a local shop. Or learning to serve a tennis ball at a sports camp. But for 16 teens and five adults from a small town in south-central Illinois, this summer means serving humanity on a church mission trip to help East Pasco Habitat for Humanity. The group from First Presbyterian Church of Effingham drove nearly 1,000 miles to pitch in on improvements the local Habitat for Humanity crew has undertaken on Tucker Avenue. They arrived late Monday, and rose at dawn Tuesday to begin the job of tearing down two shacks and clearing the neighborhood of debris as Habitat crews work toward building 12 houses in the rundown neighborhood. "This is our opportunity to give back," youth director Mike Daume said. "We have people who give to us time and time again as a church. And a lot of these kids come from families who are doing well, so they want to give something back to someone who doesn't have as much." Of the crew that came to help with Habitat, two of the adults have construction experience; the rest -- and the teens -- are just strong, willing bodies, Daume said. Church pastor Drew Holloway said the work ethic is there, if not the technical skills. "Sometimes it takes us a bit longer to do some of these things, but we learn as we go and we get it down," Holloway said. "It's great experience for the kids to go to a new place and have an opportunity to help, and it's teaching Christian values." Clint Althoff, 16, was already sweating and swigging on bottled water by 9 a.m. Tuesday, but he had a philosophical outlook. It's good to help other people, and if he wasn't doing manual labor here for Habitat for Humanity, his father, Don, would have him toiling away on some project back home. "I'd rather get out and see someplace else while I'm doing it, and it's better than working at home," he said. "And it feels good to do a good deed." Habitat president Lowell Harris said his organization is thankful for the help, both from inside and outside the community. For the church group, East Pasco Medical Center and Pasco Regional Medical Center provided lunch and snacks. And the property to build the new homes on was put together by swapping the land for property donated by Dr. Behrouz Madani. The labor is regularly donated by a variety of residents, Harris said. On Tuesday, contractor Bobby Larkin was out with a tractor to demolish vacant shacks. Daume, who grew up in Zephyrhills and knew of the efforts of Habitat for Humanity here, said his team plans to work into Saturday before heading home to Illinois. His workers, he said, are eager to get as much done as they can. "I came here to help people that need the help," said Levi Walls, 13. 'If everybody would just help each other, instead of fighting, the world would be a better place."
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From today's Pasco Times |
