Every year, Habitat for Humanity builds 16 homes in Spokane, Wash., with each one taking 1,350 volunteer hours. Upper Columbia Academy students, as part of the academy’s HOPE Taskforce program, contribute over 100 of those hours each year.
On Friday, May 9, a team of students went to the Spokane's Habitat for Humanity building site to build and move scaffolding, hammer, drill, caulk and do whatever had to be done. “Building houses is fun,” says Kayla Larson, UCA senior. Students had been to the same location last fall before the footings had been poured, and it was exciting to see the almost-completed houses now on the site.
“I always look forward to when the UCA students come,” says Bill McMillan, Habitat for Humanity site manager. “They work well and have good supervision.”
This school year, HOPE Taskforce was more of a volunteer effort than usual. For the last 14 years all the teachers, staff and students have participated in the program, but this year, in the absence of a program coordinator, academy teachers Chandra Duckett, Gayle Haeger and Charles Hartman stepped in to organize and coordinate the dozens of projects over the four outreach days.
From high on a scaffolding, UCA students Gabriel Gonzalez and Jose Alcala caulk below the roofline of a Habitat for Humanity home. (Stephen Lacey)
