HANAPEPE — Is it going to be like this the whole week? Tracy Puntasecca of New Jersey wanted to know. The wind was blowing, punctuated by sprinkles blowing off the Kalaheo ridge and red dust mixed with sawdust to blanket
HANAPEPE — Is it going to be like this the whole week? Tracy Puntasecca of New Jersey wanted to know.
The wind was blowing, punctuated by sprinkles blowing off the Kalaheo ridge and red dust mixed with sawdust to blanket the 21 Global Village volunteers that opened the week at a Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity home site on Moi Road in Hanapepe.
“It’s a good thing I brought clothes that can get stained,” Puntasecca said when learning about how red dirt stains rarely come out of clothes once set.
The arrival of the second of three Global Village groups comes in the midst of planning for Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity’s 6th annual Build-a-thon fundraising event.
Avery Welkin, the nonprofit group’s resource development associate, said volunteers are still being welcomed for the Build-a-thon that will take place from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Aug. 15.
Activities will revolve around the Habitat’s Hanapepe facility and two of the Moi Road home sites.
Welkin said participants should secure at least $100 in pledges, sponsorships and donations from friends, family, co-workers, or employers.
Pledge forms are available by visiting www.kauaihabitat.org.
Peter Gampong, the owner of the home the Global Village volunteers are working on, was thrilled to welcome the extra pairs of hands, flitting between groups that needed help securing stud supports for the walls of his home.
The walls were raised Saturday by another group of community volunteers, and Gampong made it a point to be at the site to welcome the new volunteers.
“This is my first build,” said Robin Brigden of Montreal, Canada. “I found out about it on the Internet and signed up.”
Brigden, a fashion marketing major at LaSalle College, is the sole Canadian in the group of volunteers that come from as far east as New Jersey and as far west as California.
Annie Hong is an international flight attendant from Continental Airlines that thought helping build homes was a nice break from her normal job routine, and Julie Anne Black of Seattle, Wash., thought the weather Monday was a bit like that back home.
Jess Percic of Chicago was prepared for the blustery weather, whipping out a wind breaker only to have to put it away once the showers passed.
“This is the biggest group of the summer,” said Janis Benn, the volunteer coordinator for AmeriCorp VISTA, Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity.
“They get to experience the most rewarding parts of building a home because they will actually raise the walls, install windows and roof the homes.”
Benn said a lot of the work will depend on the progress the group makes each day and the weather.
“The group should be putting up the trusses on Gampong’s home Tuesday,” Benn said. “Then, we’ll have the roofline and it will look like a house.”
For more information on volunteering and helping support affordable housing on Kaua‘i, visit www.kauaihabitat.org.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com
