Students volunteer with Hattiesburg Area Habitat for Humanity during spring break | Community Spirit

Hattiesburg Area Habitat for Humanity is hosting over 50 student volunteers during their spring break over the next four weeks. The students are participating in Habitat’s national alternative break program, Collegiate Challenge.  The students this week are visiting from University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada.  In the coming weeks, students from Penn State, Southern Illinois University and North Central College in Naperville, IL will be volunteering as well.

“We look forward to having the student volunteers again this year. This is our fifth time hosting Collegiate Challenge volunteers and we are appreciative of their efforts,” said Kami Fleener, Hattiesburg Area Habitat’s Family and Volunteer Manager.  “Collegiate Challenge provides the students with an opportunity to help provide affordable housing solutions in our area. The work they’ll do during their spring break will have a lasting impact in our community.” The students will be working on existing Habitat projects like the home of Florrie Johnson- Hattiesburg’s 58th Habitat House, building wheelchair ramps through the affiliate’s “A Brush with Kindness” program, and pre-building walls that will be used in the very first Habitat home in the City of Petal- scheduled to begin later this month.

For the past 23 years, more than 194,000 students have spent their school breaks volunteering across the country through this Habitat for Humanity program.  Habitat’s Collegiate Challenge is one of the many programs Habitat has to engage youth ages 5 to 25 in Habitat’s work. Hattiesburg Area Habitat plans to help more than 10 families this year.

“We are so grateful to these students for giving up their spring break and coming to Hattiesburg to build with us” said Lee Anne Venable, Resource Development Manager with Hattiesburg Habitat. “While most college students take a much needed break, these students will be working during their entire visit to help our affiliate serve more families.” To help make their visit more enjoyable, several restaurants in the area are donating lunch for these students every day. Habitat would like to send a special thanks to: Newk’s, Old Athens Grill, Sweet Peppers Deli, Qdoba, Bianchi’s, CiCi’s, The Neal House, T’Bone’s Records and Café, The Depot Coffee House and Bistro, O’Charley’s, and McAlister’s Deli on Hardy Street.