Students work in Johns Island

Last Wednesday, a group of 16 USC students and two advisors embarked for Johns Island, S.C., to spend their fall break making a difference by building homes for low-income families.

Sponsored by University Community Service Programs, the trip gave students the opportunity to work with the Sea Island affiliate of Habitat for Humanity. A $95 registration fee included transportation, housing and food for the weekend.

“I’m really excited to have a great group of students working together,” said Michelle Peer, the program’s adviser, before departing. “The students are looking forward to having a break but spending their time giving back to others.”

Ranging from freshman to graduate students, the group spent three days working from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on projects such as painting, siding and shingling the roof of a house. No previous experience was necessary, because Habitat for Humanity teaches volunteers everything they need to know and provides the necessary tools.

“It’s a very tangible project to work on, whether you are painting or putting up dry wall,” Peer said.

The volunteers worked on one house throughout the weekend, and students spoke of how rewarding it was to see the outcome of their labor.

“My favorite part was just the combination of everything,” said Jennifer Conner, a third-year international business and finance student. “Today we finally got the roof up and got to see it all finished.”

The group stayed in one of the Habitat houses, which included a common living area and kitchen. Janell Pennington, a fourth-year management and marketing student, said they took turns cooking dinner and spent the evenings doing team building activities, playing games and watching movies. They also went to the beach Friday after working.

“It was just a good way to wind down,” Pennington said.

The weekend ended with a celebratory group dinner in Charleston on Saturday night, and they returned to Columbia on Sunday.

Founded in 1978, Sea Island is the third-oldest Habitat for Humanity affliiate in the world and provides affordable housing for low-income families from James Island to Edisto Island. Peer said that she was also a part of this fall break trip in 2007 and found that the students enjoyed working with Habitat for Humanity.

“Sometimes we get to meet the families we build the houses for, and also talking to the Habitat volunteers is a very rewarding experience,” Peer said.

This year, the group did get the opportunity to meet the woman who will be living in the house. Deborah Donnett, a first-year exercise science student, said that this experience was her favorite part of the trip.

“I liked hearing her get excited about the floor plan and everything, and seeing how [our work] was going to impact the community,” Donnett said.