In a previous blog post, I wrote about Julia Rion, Librarian at Cherry Hill East High School, and her involvement with Habitat. This post focuses on three former students, their experiences and how Habitat shaped the course of their lives.
BRAD'S STORY
“It was one of the best spring breaks I ever had.”
- Brad Tonoff, Cherry Hill East High School Graduate-
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Brad and other Habitat volunteers in Charleston, South Carolina riding on a flatbed of tires which they collected while cleaning up a backyard in the neighborhood where they were building houses.
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While many students spend their spring break at the beach,
Brad decided to participate in the Habitat Collegiate Challenge with Cherry
Hill East. He liked it so much
that he went again the following year and even became the Treasurer for the
trip. Now a senior at Rutgers,
Brad reminisced about the work he did for Habitat and how it shaped his
future.
It was 2007, about a year after Hurricane Katrina struck,
when Brad and others from Cherry Hill East flew to New Orleans. They were headed to the 9th
Ward to build 2 houses in one week.
Although they would join college students and church groups in the
initiative, they were the only high school present. When they arrived, they
were shocked to see how little had been done to rebuild the community. There was still debris, abandoned cars
and fallen traffic lights all over the street. “It looked like the hurricane had just occurred. The conditions were really bad. We slept on nylon cots in an abandoned
elementary school that had been gutted,” Brad said.
One of the most upsetting things was that each house that
was destroyed had a number spray painted on it representing how many people
from that household died in Hurricane Katrina. To understand the magnitude of what had occurred, when
they first arrived and were getting oriented, they were shown a video of the
flooding. They saw a super Walmart
that was completely under water.
“We got to meet and build with the local residents. They were very grateful. It was powerful. You heard through the media
that people were angry about not getting help quick enough, but the people we
met were just grateful to be alive.
They weren’t angry and they weren’t placing blame,” Brad told me. Local musicians played for the Habitat
volunteers and provided them with a free crawfish BBQ.
Brad enjoyed the trip so much that he went again the
following year to Charleston. “You
get a chance to be out of your comfort zone and learn about a different part of
the country – the people, the music and the food. It was fun. It
was like a vacation, but half the time was spent doing manual labor.”
He said that he developed a special friendship with the
other students and is still in touch with many of them. Brad is thinking of chaperoning a trip
with Cherry Hill East in the future. He may even go back to New Orleans one day to
see how it looks and to say hello to the people he met.
Brad was so impacted by his experiences that he is now
looking for a job where he can use his communications skills to focus on the
environment. He has included his
Habitat experience on his resume because he wants to work for an employer who
values that.
I hope he gets the bright future he deserves!
I hope he gets the bright future he deserves!
ELISE'S STORY
“Working with Burlington County Habitat for Humanity reminded me that
serving with Habitat doesn’t have to be about traveling across the country for
a week. There’s absolutely a need
in your own backyard. Community
service should be integrated into your daily life and not just something you do
once a year.”
-Elise Radziwill, Cherry Hill East High School Graduate-
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| Building in New Orleans - Cherry Hill East High School |
Elise Radziwill joined the Cherry Hill East High School
Habitat Club in 2005, when she was a junior. She had the opportunity to participate in two Collegiate
Challenges as well as volunteer with Burlington County Habitat for Humanity. It was so rewarding that
years later she organized a Collegiate Challenge to Jacksonville Beach, Florida
in her senior year of college at Mount St. Mary’s University. “People know about the beautiful homes
in Jacksonville Beach, but they don’t realize how much poverty there is,” Elise
said.
I asked Elise to tell me about the trip she took to Clarksdale,
Mississippi with Cherry Hill East High School.
“You have to be 16 years old and I was finally old enough to
go. Some of my good friends went
too.
I enjoyed meeting the homeowners. It’s a special treat to see who will move into the home you
are building. They came to visit us at the house we were staying at that week
and we shared a meal. The mother
was handicapped and she told us that
the home was a blessing to her family.
You put your blood, sweat and tears into building a home and
it is rewarding to see the progress you and your fellow students and faculty
members can make on a structure in a week.”
Elise believes that volunteering for Habitat instilled a
work ethic within her and gave her an understanding of how poverty strikes our
own nation. She appreciates the
value of people from different
geographic areas working together
for a common cause.
“I really love Habitat. I always meet wonderful people – employees, homeowners and
other volunteers,” said Elise as we ended our conversation.
Thanks, Elise, for sharing your story!!
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| Cherry Hill East in Mississippi - Away from the work site |
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| Building in Jacksonville Beach with Mount St. Mary |
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| Building in Burlington County, NJ with Cherry Hill East |
JEFF'S STORY
“I was born into a
wealthy environment and have the opportunity for a fulfilling life. The majority of the world doesn’t get
that blessing. I wanted to make a
contribution towards giving that opportunity to others. As one individual, my contribution is
small and humble. Collectively, if
everyone does it, the contribution can be great.”
-Jeff Deppa, Cherry Hill East High School Graduate-
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Habitat for Humanity not only influenced where Jeff Deppa
went to college and the major he selected, it also led him to the Peace Corps.
Jeff joined the Habitat Club during his senior year at the
suggestion of his Spanish teacher, Mr. Console, one of the club’s
advisors. He told me that Mr.
Console saw something in him that he hadn’t yet discovered himself – the desire
to make a difference in the world.
His first Habitat build was in Burlington City. “It awakened me to the realization that there was so much work to be done
just 20 minutes away from home,” Jeff said. He discovered how much effort goes into building a house and
became more conscious of the work done by nonprofit organizations.
In April, 2007 he took the Collegiate Challenge and went
with Cherry Hill East to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. At the time he was still deciding
on a college major and he became so intrigued with the power of Mother Nature
that he decided to study meteorology at Rutgers in New Brunswick.
He also got to meet AmeriCorps workers on that trip and his
interest in learning about them eventually led him to the Peace Corps. Jeff has signed on as a Peace Corps
volunteer and leaves for Tanzania, Africa in about 2 months! He’ll get 3 months
of training and then he’ll be a high school math teacher for 2 years.
He told me it’s a good time in his life to do this since he
doesn’t have a family to be responsible for yet. He is intrigued and excited at the thought of discovering a
new culture.
“I’m going for it!” he told me.
You go, Jeff!
It’s really admirable.
