Students
to Swing Hammers During Spring Break
 Smith students will join
more than 12,000 fellow spring breakers from across the
country participating in Habitat for Humanity’s “Collegiate
Challenge.”
During the week of March
15 through 24, Smith students will work alongside other
volunteers and Habitat homeowners in New Orleans to build
simple, decent and affordable Habitat for Humanity houses.
Summing up an academic year of participating in various
local builds and hosting numerous fundraisers, the “Collegiate Challenge” in
New Orleans is a highlight for Smith Habitat for Humanity
Chapter members.
“While many of their peers are relaxing these students
are putting in hundreds of hours of hard work during Habitat’s
Collegiate Challenge,” said Alynn Woodson, Associate
Director of Habitat’s Youth Programs department. “By
the end of the week, not only have the students learned how
to build a house, they’ve also seen how their actions
can help improve people’s lives by providing safe,
affordable shelter through a Habitat for Humanity home.”
More than 12,000 students
have signed up to help build homes in 210 locations as
part of this year’s Collegiate
Challenge program. The program offers high school and college-age
students year-round opportunities to use their vacations
to serve a community by volunteering to build homes.
“I feel fortunate that I will be able to help with
the redevelopment of the city working in partnership with
victims of Hurricane Katrina,” said Vanessa Shea ’10,
a member of the Smith chapter. “Also, it will be an
incredible opportunity to be able to work with students from
all over the nation through the Habitat for Humanity affiliate
in New Orleans. Certainly it will be a very enriching and
unique experience that will contribute to the empowerment
of people affected by the devastation.”
Throughout its 19-year
history, more than 155,000 students have traveled to build
Habitat houses through Habitat’s
Collegiate Challenge program. During this time, students
raised more than $14.6 million to pay for construction. This
year alone, Collegiate Challenge students will contribute
$1.5 million to help build houses.
About Habitat for Humanity International
Habitat for Humanity International is an ecumenical Christian
ministry that welcomes to its work all people dedicated to
the cause of eliminating poverty housing. Since its founding
in 1976, Habitat has built more than 250,000 houses worldwide,
providing simple, decent and affordable shelter for more
than 1 million people. For more information, visit www.habitat.org.
For more information,
or to make a donation for Smith’s
Habitat for Humanity spring break trip, send an email to
Vanessa Shea, vshea@email.smith.edu.
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