Osprey squadron builds nests for humans
Marine Corps News
Release Date: 7/29/2003
Story by Sgt. Christine C. Odom
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, N.C. (July 29, 2003) -- Words like hard-charging, tenacious, motivating or faithful are commonly used to describe a Marine, but who would have thought generous, kind and compassionate were also part of a Marine's personality.
As part of their monthly routine, the "Raptors" of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Training Squadron-204 take time out of their schedule to contribute to the community by volunteering at Habitat for Humanity International in New Bern.
Habitat is a nonprofit organization and Christian housing ministry that seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world. They have built more than 150,000 houses around the world, providing 750,000 people with safe, decent and affordable shelter.
"It's a great organization that helps people who need housing get it. Unfortunately, it's a slow process to build the house, and families might be on a waiting list for about a year before getting their house," said Fred Kruck, construction supervisor at HFHI New Bern.
According to the HFHI Web site, through volunteer labor and donations of money and materials, Habitat builds and rehabilitates simple, decent houses with the help of the homeowner (partner) families. After construction of the houses is complete, they are sold to the partner families at no profit and financed with affordable, no-interest loans.
In addition, as part of the down payment and monthly mortgage payments, homeowners invest hundreds of hours of their own labor or as they like to call it, "sweat equity", into building their Habitat house and the houses of others, added Kruck.
Construction of the houses isn?t an easy task, so HFHI relies heavily on its volunteers.
"We have a lot of college students who volunteer to help build the houses, but that's usually during the summer," said Kruck. "We also get people who have to do this as part of their community service, and then there's the Marines. When they get here, we know we can get a project done faster."
For more than 18 months now the "Raptors" have been aiding HFHI New Bern, setting aside the fourth Tuesday of every month to volunteer.
"What I like so much about Habitat is that we are giving back to the community, and it builds camaraderie within the unit, especially with new the Marines," said Staff Sgt. Joseph E. Connors, the avionics division noncommissioned officer-in-charge at VMMT-204.
According to Connors, some of his Marines have never touched a hammer before, but when they're given a task to do that's when they apply the teamwork they've learned from the Marine Corps to accomplish their common goal.
Some of the tasks Marines are given range from tearing down walls and siding to nailing shingles onto a roof. On their last visit, July 22, the "Raptors" used their carpentry skills to construct a storage shed behind the next house on the list for rehabilitation. "The job would have taken the other volunteers two to three days to complete, but leave it to the Marines to finish it in one day," said Kruck. Mission accomplishment has always been the Marine Corps' primary objective, so when a group of Marines get together and are given the tools and knowledge to do any task, they can get the job done, explained Connors.
"I expected it to be hard work, but it's a good experience, and I enjoyed it," said Lance Cpl. Robert K. Pawlik, an MV-22 Osprey mechanic at VMMT-204. "It gives us a chance to get out of the office and do something out of the ordinary."
Like many other Marines at the Osprey squadron, Pawlik has volunteered his time to do good things in the community and plans to continue his selfless service with Habitat.
For their unselfish acts of kindness and community service, the Marines at VMMT-204 should be applauded. This is a great example of how one person can make a difference, and they only hope that these good deeds will continue throughout the Corps.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
