Nearly a dozen members of the Mount Saint Mary College community spent their spring break building a home in Laredo, Texas though Habitat for Humanity.
Led by Roger May Jr., assistant director of campus ministry, and Himali Pandya, assistant director of student activities, the Mount group was tasked with installing windows and siding, as well as constructing walls within the home.
“The girls jumped right in and worked really hard,” explained May. “The night before we discussed how we didn’t really know how to build anything, but by lunch the next day, they were on ladders and scaffolding, using nail guns. I was really impressed with our students.”
The Mount group worked alongside the family who will own the home when it is completed, as well as students from Elon University in North Carolina. The students lent their service to the project for several days and spent their nights at a local church.
“Everyone from Elon was great,” said Pandya. “At night we would do reflections together. Their enthusiasm encouraged us to succeed, and vice versa.”
Another important motivating factor, according to May, was short length of time they had to complete the build.
“They told us at the beginning that we’re not going back to redo anything, so how you build it was how it stays,” he explained. “We made sure to do everything carefully and quickly to make the best of our time.”