Today was a build day. We worked with the Habitat Chapter in Newburg, NY. Instead of building things, we did a lot of moving. We moved bricks from the backyard of a house because the city requested there return and then we moved furniture donated from Sacred Heart University into a warehouse. The neat thing was at lunch when the former president of the chapter told us why we were doing what we were doing. The chapter had to get the bricks back to the city and the furniture will be sold in the Habitat restore when it opens next month to raise money for future projects. While the work may not have been as fulfilling as putting up walls it was stuff that needed to be done. How often can people round up 31 spry young youth to do the heavy lifting or the projects that just require a lot of hands?

The Newburg chapter was pretty well put together and they have big plans for the future. After lunch at a local church provided by Habitat, a project leader took us by the two houses they built in the beginning of June in a blitz build. They put up the houses in 5 days. We were given a tour inside and I am continually amazed at the quality of Habitat houses. The outside had to conform to the historic codes of the city and they were really nice.
Overall, it was a day with a lot of hard work but I think all of us came away excited about the chapter and glad we could help them out. We made dinner (the first time we’ve had to all trip) and just relaxed at the school we were staying at.

I think all of us enjoyed the day off for cycling although we went to bed just as early as the night before.
Hilary