Hello, Pitt-Greensburg Habitat supporters!

As donors to our 2016 alternative spring break trip to Birmingham, Alabama, we are writing to you to seek your support for this year's 2017 trip to Tucker, Georgia. Once again, a group of ambitious and caring students will be giving up their spring breaks to travel south and build simple, decent, affordable housing for families in need.

If you are interested in supporting the cause this year, please check out our new EngagePitt page here. When you make a pledge to this year's trip, you will also be able to stay up-to-date with our daily updates throughout the trip.

Your continued support is appreciated. Thank you so much!

TUESDAY, MARCH 15th ​Brian Root, Campus Chapter Advisor

For the 9th year, I joined a group of Pitt-Greensburg students on a Habitat for Humanity alternative spring break trip. Each year, the trip reinforces my belief in service as a tool for changing individuals and building communities. This year’s group came on this trip mostly as strangers and left as a family.

During the week-long journey, they each devoted 40 hours of service to help continue the process of constructing two homes for two single mothers from Birmingham.

Each day, the students rolled up their sleeves to get dirty and learn new skills. Members of our group were involved in everything from roofing and siding to laying tiles and painting. The weather allowed for us to make great strides on the construction of the homes we worked on.

Every year, when I return home from the Habitat trip, I feel like a proud father. After all, I have much to be proud of. This group of 24 young adults showed their true colors last week; and those colors were beautiful. The leaders of the group did a fabulous job facilitating meaningful reflection activities at the end of each day. Trip leader Quoc Vo especially deserves a shout out, because it was his leadership that helped to make this trip so successful.

What I’m most proud of, though, is that these students stepped out of their comfort zones. On numerous occasions, I witnessed students conquer fears – fears of climbing to the top of the scaffolding, fears of getting on the roof, fears of using power tools for the first time.

We arrived home Sunday afternoon, and most of the group got together later that evening for dinner at Primanti Brothers.

On behalf of the group, I want to thank everyone who made this trip possible. We receive such amazing support from the campus community and friends and family.  Without the support of our Student Government, this trip probably doesn’t happen. In addition, we had more than 70 individuals make donations to our trip, many of whom are hopefully reading this right now.

Believe it or not, yesterday, our student leaders already started talking about next year’s trip. They are so excited to start thinking about the next community we can travel to and make an impact on.

SUNDAY, MARCH 13th Madison Rinker & Alexis Limuaco - first-time trip attendees and roommates (Alexis is at left; Madison is at right in the photo below)

Hey everyone! This is Madison Rinker and Alexis Limuaco.  We are currently sophomores at Pitt-Greensburg.  This was our first Habitat for Humanity Spring Break trip.  We were thrilled to be a part of this experience and to have an opportunity to help these families. 

We first considered being a part of Habitat for Humanity when we heard about this trip.  I (Madison) did not know much about the club before hearing about this trip.  So when the opportunity arose, I wanted to learn more about it and get involved in any way I could.  After being accepted for this trip, I found more interest in being a part of this club.  It gives me the chance to give back to the community.  Knowing that I can bring a smile to someone's face or impact the life of another person gives me the sense of being a better person.

I (Alexis) knew about the club in some aspect, but not too much.  Just as Madison stated, getting accepted to this trip I knew this would give me the chance to get involved.  When I got accepted for this trip, I was thrilled to know I had this opportunity to help these families. 

This week brought a lot of challenges, but we stayed positive and worked together to overcome them all.  When we came into this, the 25 of us really did not know each other well.  When we went to work, it was like we knew each other for years.  This trip created bonds that will never be broken and memories that will last forever.  We all wanted to give something of ourselves, but in return we all received something as well.  This week has given us happiness, knowing that we were going to be building a home for a family to have a life in.

I’m sure everyone can agree that we all had the best time together. It’s sad to see the trip come to an end. 

FRIDAY, MARCH 11th   Marissa Shaffer – campus chapter secretary & second-time trip attendee ​(Photographed at left)

Hello, my name is Marissa Shaffer and I am a sophomore at Pitt Greensburg. I have been a member of Habitat for Humanity for almost two years and have been secretary of the club for almost a year. I feel very privileged to say that this is my second spring break trip, especially because I got to adventure to a new state. Habitat has definitely impacted me in many different ways and I will forever be thankful.

You could say that my story began last year when I became a student at Pitt-Greensburg. I have always been a little on the shy side, but when I joined Habitat, I felt like I fit right in. Habitat gave me the ability to meet many people who have helped me to grow as a person. Because of Habitat I am no longer the girl who keeps to herself; I am the girl who is trying to help others just like me.

I was very excited when I heard we would be traveling to Alabama for spring break because I have always wanted to explore the south. Twenty-five people, three vans, and twelve hours later, we arrived at our destination. We were all just strangers to one another who had to live in a house and share two showers for a whole week. But we all had one thing in common – we wanted to help others and make a difference. We didn’t go on spring break with the intentions of going to the beach, to party, or to relax like most college students do. We went on  spring break with the intentions to get our hands dirty and work hard; however, we did so much more than that. We learned life skills and lessons that will never be forgotten. We made friendships that will last a lifetime. We made memories that can never be replaced.

Today was our last day working with Birmingham Habitat, and tomorrow we start our journey back to Greensburg. During this whole week we split into groups to work on different houses. Today I was able to go to a different site with a smaller group of friends. From there we split up – some of the group painted and the others worked outside.

I definitely got some good exercise in today by shoveling and carrying buckets of rocks to fill in behind a wall that was up to my waist. My job wasn’t the easiest thing to do – I was sweaty, tired, and even smashed my toe with a bucket of rocks; however, thinking about the family that we were helping made everything worthwhile.  I am sad to say that today was our last day on the work site; however, I know that our work was appreciated by the family and by the Habitat affiliate.

Thanks for reading! 

-Marissa Shaffer

THURSDAY, MARCH 10th Kevin Kudrick – campus chapter member & first-time trip attendee ​(Seen at left in photo below)

My name is Kevin Kudrick and I am a twenty-four year old sophomore at UPG studying to be a certified public accountant. I started college a lot later than most traditional students, so making friends was a challenge since I am older and a commuter. Habitat for Humanity gave me the opportunity to meet and make more friends, and I am happy to say because of this trip, I have made twenty-four new friends.

Our fourth day began with distributing our tie-dye shirts we made Tuesday night, and they all turned out awesome! We all wore our tie-dye shirts to the work site. Today we finished the siding in the back of the house, decked the back porch, worked on the front porch, and put the finishing touches on the roof.

The last two days have been rough because forecasters were calling for rain, and our construction coordinator wanted us to get the entire roof job done before the end of the day today.  It was so uplifting to step back to see the outside of the house almost complete. We all took pictures at the end of the work day showing off our hard work. So I hope you all can see the pictures in the near future, and that you enjoy them.

Although everyone is tired and most of us have sunburn, we have been coming together to finish this house. With the exception of today, there has been only one supervisor around, so it has been imperative for us to come together to get our respective jobs done. It has been so nice to work with and to get to know everyone on this trip.

After our day ended, we treated ourselves to some ice cream before our dinner group went shopping for groceries. They made a delicious breakfast dinner that everyone loved. Seriously, the home made dinners have been so much better than going out for dinner, not to mention a lot cheaper for our group.

Tomorrow for our final day, we will be splitting up into two groups and working on two different work sites, so it was really nice to work with everyone today for the last time. I know the people whose house we have worked on this week appreciate us giving up our spring break by donating our time to work on their house. This trip will forever burn a memory in my brain, and most of all, it will make a huge impact on a family’s life.

Thanks for reading,

Kevin Kudrick

WEDNESDAY, March 9th Taylor Legette – freshman & first-time trip attendee (Taylor is photographed at center)

Taylor signing on here!

Hello to all the readers, my name is Taylor Legette and I’m a freshman pre-pharmacy major at UPG.

This trip has changed my whole perspective on UPG to say the least! And to be honest, I’m still shocked that I’m here and able to help families have not only a house but a home. Today was our third day of work and I’m blown away at how well we all have worked to make a family’s dream come true.

For the past three days I have helped complete a roof from beginning to finish. Today, we finished the project by laying shingles. I’m not really the handy woman, but who would have known that I would be on a roof nailing, stapling, and hammering every piece of the roof with love. It hasn’t all been a breeze but with the help of all of my fellow students, I think we did a really awesome job! Many times we had to figure out the majority of the work on our own because we only had one construction coordinator to provide instructions and assistance. But he did the best that he could and with his help, we got it all done!

I really want to speak more about how remarkable this group of students has been. I would have never been able to do any of this on my own. These kids have heart! They are some of the brightest,  most encouraging, supportive, and fearless people that I have ever come in contact with, and in just three days, a lot has rubbed off on me!. To say the least, I’m honored and grateful to be here especially with some of the best surrounding me.

Day 3 was a blast! So much teamwork, so much resilience, and so much PITT pride! We are all connected to the up-and-coming movers and shakers of the world! Thanks for reading!

-TRL

TUESDAY, MARCH 8th Jillian Cardwell – campus chapter member & first-time trip attendee (Jillian is photographed at left)

Hello, my name is Jillian Cardwell and currently I am a sophomore at Pitt-Greensburg. This is my first Habitat for Humanity spring break trip. I am ecstatic to have the opportunity to attend such a great trip for a wonderful cause!

As we started our second day of work, it was much easier to get into the swing of things since we had more of an idea of what we were going to work on. The first half of the day was primarily focused on the siding of the right side of the house. The siding was mostly finished; all we had to do was from the eave (the part of the roof that overhangs the walls) and up. We ran into an issue about halfway through and realized that one piece of the siding from below wasn’t entirely locked in. We then were advised by an older gentleman named Paul that all of the siding had to be torn down in order to fix the piece of siding.

Paul was the absolute highlight of my day. As he was helping us, we had to chance to talk and find out a little more about him. He is such a knowledgeable and remarkable man and has been volunteering with Habitat for Humanity for at least 14 years now. He was so friendly and kind; I will definitely miss that man. Even though the siding mistake let us down at first, it only really determined us to focus and complete the rest of the siding. With that faithful determination we were able to finish the task.

Soon after, I decided to try measuring pieces of soffit as well as using the electric saw to cut them. Although it doesn’t sound like a hard job, it was essential to have correct measurements so that the pieces could fit perfectly. After a few tries, I felt confident and comfortable continuing to perform the task. As our day at the worksite was coming to a close, I thought it was nice that everyone worked together to clean up the site and ended on positive vibes.

 After our workday, everyone in the group traveled to our host affiliate’s main building. During our time there, we had the privilege of meeting a few owners of some of Birmingham’s Habitat-built homes. Their stories were very inspirational and heartwarming. It honestly made me feel proud for the work that we do for these amazing families. It also made me realized that Habitat for Humanity makes a definite impact not just on the families it assists, but also the communities that those families live in.

We also met with another school from Ohio who also came down to Birmingham for their spring break as well. I thought it was a really nice get together for everyone. We ended our day by returning to our home and tie dying t-shirts that we all will be wearing at the work site on Thursday.

I would say that even though there was an issue earlier in the day, our group ended the day on a great note. As each day goes by, I feel greater about all the hard work the group does for Habitat and the influence we have on others.

Sincerest Regards,

Jillian Cardwell

MONDAY, MARCH 7 Noel Saraceno – campus chapter president & four-time trip attendee (in photo, at left)

Howdy, y’all! After our long journey, we finally made it to Birmingham, Alabama! We got here yesterday afternoon, and started unloading our luggage into the house we will be staying in for the next week. After settling in, we explored the uptown area of Birmingham, where we found a restaurant called Southern Kitchen. We asked the server what the local favorite was off the menu, and his answer was simple, but surprising. He said the best thing to get was the honey jalapeño sauce for French Fries and burgers. Naturally, I felt inclined to try this concoction and discovered that he was right; it was pretty tasty. After lunch, we continued walking around the town and exploring new things.

Although yesterday was enjoyable, today was ten times better. This morning we split ourselves into two groups, and set out to our build sites. The first work site hosted eight of our trip attendees. While there, they laid down tile flooring throughout the house. The rest of us went to the second work site where we worked on siding, roofing, and insulation.

I was in the larger of the two groups, and worked on siding the house all day. After four years in Habitat and this being my fourth spring break trip, my goal has been to work on the roof. Although I didn’t complete this goal today, I got pretty close. I’m a fan of heights, so I really enjoyed climbing up and down the scaffolding all day. We packed everything up around 3:30 today and enjoyed the beautiful weather at Railroad Park.

Tomorrow we will be switching the groups up and sending students back out to the worksites. I’m pretty pumped to learn how to install floor tiles tomorrow.

Until then, good night from Birmingham and we will talk to you tomorrow.

Hello, Habitat friends!

I wanted to let you know that we departed at 1 p.m. today for Birmingham. We've completed the first leg of our drive, and we're staying in a hotel tonight in Lenoir City, Tennessee. We drove through a decent amount of rain and even some sleet at one point in West Virginia.

I can already tell that this is going to be a great trip. The entire group is giving off positive vibes.

Today was Marissa's birthday. Marissa is a second-time trip attendee, and she's our club secretary. We decorated her van before leaving the Pitt-Greensburg campus. I'm glad she chose to spend the day in a 12-passenger van today. I'm sure she wouldn't have had it any other way.

Tomorrow, we'll head off to complete the final four hours of our drive, hopefully arriving in Birmingham around 2 p.m.

I hope you'll stay tuned to our adventures this week. We appreciate you, and want to keep you informed throughout the week.

-Brian

On behalf of the Pitt Greensburg Habitat for Humanity Chapter, we would like to thank those who have donated to our group and are supporting us as we prepare for our spring break trip to Birmingham, Alabama. We will be able to start our first work day in exactly one week thanks to you. While we still do not know exactly which familes we will be helping, our work week will start at 7:00 am each morning and end at approximately 4:00 pm. As a group, we will be staying in a house that is provided to us by our affiliate in Birmingham. This will give us a chance to bond and form a relationship that we would like to share with you. Throughout our trip, we will be providing updates about our experiences as well as the progress we are making. Those updates can be seen on this page so please stay tuned! Thank you again for your generosity as we are excited to show you what we are capable of! #h2p