‘ELE‘ELE — Visiting Kaua‘i may be like a dream vacation, but for some it’s just not enough. Several groups of volunteers will be visiting the Garden Island this year to help Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity to build homes for island
‘ELE‘ELE — Visiting Kaua‘i may be like a dream vacation, but for some it’s just not enough. Several groups of volunteers will be visiting the Garden Island this year to help Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity to build homes for island residents.
Now, that’s a vacation.
Bob Ray, president of the Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity Board of Directors, said groups love coming to Kaua‘i to volunteer, and the Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity loves to have them.
Katie and Kurt Love, college instructors from Connecticut, were leading a volunteer team of 16 people of varying ages doing construction work on a home site in ‘Ele‘ele, Friday morning.
The group arrived Thursday, and will be here through Jan. 15 volunteering at the Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity home site.
“This is the third time the Loves have brought a team to Kaua‘i,” said Janis Benn, the Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity volunteer coordinator. “Today, in addition to the 16 volunteers, we also have four Kaua‘i Habitat staff members and five volunteers from the community helping to install sheetrock.”
Benn noted that among the Mainland volunteers, four are returning team members, along with the Loves.
She said Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity can still use more volunteers, and will be doing two monthly volunteer orientations.
“We’ve had a lady from Hanalima Baking volunteer to build homes in New Zealand,” Benn said. “Now, Hanalima Baking helps us by providing assorted baked goods for our volunteers. It’s a true learning experience.”
The volunteer orientations will take place on the third Thursday of each month at the St. John’s Episcopal Church in ‘Ele‘ele, at 6:30 p.m., starting Jan. 20.
On the first Saturday of each month, the volunteer orientation will be held at the Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity baseyard in Hanapepe, at 9 a.m.
Benn encouraged people to come out and volunteer, especially during the visits of the volunteer teams, to meet new people and learn while helping someone’s dream of a home come true.
Ray said on the heels of the Love team, there are more teams lined up to come and work on what he described as one of the larger homes being built by Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity, a five bedroom model.
Benn said that from Jan. 15 to 23, Kathryn Petrovich and Brandon Glover will be returning for their second trip to Kaua‘i, this time as team leaders with a team of 20 Canadian volunteers.
“After a couple of slow months, Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity has 10 teams of volunteers scheduled to come and build homes in 2011,” Benn said in an e-mail. “Four of these teams will be here in January and February.”
Team visits have been scheduled for May, June, July, August and December, Benn said.
Facing the Love team is the installation of sheetrock in the ‘Ele‘ele home site.
“This is probably the most hectic phase of a home coming up,” Ray said. “They’ll be busy, and hopefully, the installation will be complete by the weekend. Then, we’ll assemble a painting crew for the next phase.”
Visit www.kauaihabitat.org, or call 335-0296 for more information or to volunteer at a home site.
