Art of Giving

NOT GLAMOROUS.

That’s how Vi-Anne Brown describes the recent Habitat for Humanity trip she chaperoned with eight Cushing students.

In October 2012, Hurricane Sandy demolished homes in more than 15 states. The state of New Jersey was particularly hard hit. Since the hurricane, the nonprofit organization Habitat for Humanity has been working to rebuild and renovate houses to help those impacted by the storm. This spring, a group of eight Cushing students—Fred Morlock ’16, Joanna James ’15, Savannah Zhong ’15, Kira Tierney, Kat Lemieux ’15, Kayla Sargent ’15, Jessica Kinsley ’16, and Rachel Guerriero ’16—joined in that effort.

They spent several nights in a church and drove back and forth to the work site each day, where they worked from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm. The Morgan family, whose home they were building, had been staying in their grandmother’s small home since the storm hit in 2012. To complicate matters, Mr. Morgan’s wife died shortly before the hurricane and he suffered a heart attack this past November. The family was faced with the prospect of having to be out of their current living situation by May 1, so the need for a new home had become critical.

The Cushing kids spent several days at the work site, where they did all kinds of work helping with the construction. They knew from the beginning that they’d need to be flexible during the trip, and their ability to do that was certainly put to the test. One day, several of the kids dug holes for the foundation. It was muddy, dirty work. When the inspector didn’t visit as scheduled to review the work, they had to repeat the same job the next day.

The Cushing group of spring break students was the first to go to New Jersey. Habitat for Humanity has sites all over the world and they are common destinations for students on spring break, but the sites most kids want to go to are in warm, sunny locales. New Jersey is hardly that in early March.

Although the kids didn’t see the house finished, ViAnne hopes that the experience of seeing another home dedicated during their visit will help drive home the importance of the work they were doing. “It was striking to me just how devastating the storm was and that people are still out of their homes three years later with no end in sight,” Vi-Anne says. The students also got to know each other better, and it was a good opportunity to learn that not everyone has the same opportunities that they do.

To go on the trip, the group had to raise money for transportation, food, lodging, and materials. The kids held several fundraisers and also asked the broader Cushing community to help out by making donations. Their successful fundraising meant that the students themselves didn’t have to contribute money as well as their time.