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Building a family of helping hands

Snowbirds form a unique bond through riding in a caravan and volunteering with Habitat.

By KIT INGALLS
Published April 3, 2007

DADE CITY - Ernie Richardson had no intention of volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. Each year, he drove down from his home in London, Ontario, to escape the cold winters.

After 40 years with Ford Motor Co. of Canada, he was ready for his leisure time. And to Ernie Richardson, leisure time meant riding his motorcycle.

His church organized Saturday work crews to help at Dade City Habitat build sites, but Richardson declined to join them. To volunteer was to give up a day of riding.

"I finally got out after the second year of prodding," Richardson said. "I came over once and I got hooked. I find it very gratifying at my age, nearly 70, that I can still do all of this stuff."

For the past three years, Richardson has spent his winters helping East Pasco Habitat build houses. He and his wife, Carol, no longer take their fifth wheel to Zephyrhills. Now they camp near the Habitat build sites.

There, they reunite with friends who converge on Dade City each year to share their labor and their camaraderie. Habitat officials call them "care-a-vanners."

They get together almost every night. "We've found out that just before dusk, the mosquitoes come out," said Ray Heaton, who travels with his wife, Kathy, full time in their RV. "Whatever we're doing, we usually break it up about that time and head in."

Often the evenings include shared meals. "Last Saturday we had a pig roast along with a big pot luck," Richardson said.

Habitat homeowner Alfonso Flores dressed, seasoned and roasted the pig.

"We had about 90 people come this year," said Becky Moyers, whose husband, Lew, shot the feral pig during his annual hunt in Georgia. "We had oodles of food."

"This is not the place to come lose weight," said Ray Heaton. His wife, Kathy, talks in terms of weight gains, "We say there are 20-pound builds and 10-pound builds. This one is definitely a 20."

During workdays, Moyers, who hails from Parkersburg, W. Va., keeps the volunteers supplied with snacks, lunches, coffee and water.

"We have the local churches feeding them every day," she said. "We had a couple of days that we didn't fill, and some of the homeowners that have gotten [Habitat] homes have volunteered. It's worked out fantastic."

"Becky's our den mother," said Betty Roggenkamp, from West Haven, Conn.

Moyers worked with Tamara Zimmerman of St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Dade City to develop the "Food Angels" program.

"I'm still getting calls," Moyers said. "I'd say 50 percent of the churches that have fed us have already signed up to do it again."

With college students on spring break added to the volunteer corps, the churches feed about 45 people a day in March.

In April, the "care-a-vanners" will head north - toward cooler weather and, for many, home. They will stay in touch with e-mails and Christmas cards until next year, when they return to Dade City to build again.

"We have a lot of fun together," says Kathy Heaton. "It's the reason we come."

"This is great fun," agreed Richardson. "I'll keep doing this as long as I have my health. This is a good way to keep it."

[Last modified April 2, 2007, 23:24:58]