Everyday Is A Winding Road: Giving Back

If you've every watched an episode of the new television show, Secret Millionaire, then you'd probably know why I got the urge to volunteer. The general jist of this show for those of you who aren't aware, is that a millionaire goes undercover into a poverty stricken town and looks for good organizations that are trying to make a difference. At the end of the show, they reveal that they are a millionaire and then give a huge portion of their wealth to the people/organizations that they found. After watching several episodes, I was ready to get out and help out too, even though I wouldn't be revealing myself as a secret millionaire at the end.

I tried thinking of several places in which I could volunteer, but the one thing that kept popping into my head was Habitat. I used to volunteer there a lot as a teenager through our youth group, but when I became employed, I was no longer to give up my Saturdays. I contacted the director of the local organization and she informed me I was more than welcome to come lend a hand on a Tuesday or Saturday at the Asheboro site, which just so happened to be within walking distance of my house. So that Tuesday I had off and my friend Ashley and I headed up the road with a positive attitude. When we got there, they put us right to work! We started by putting insulating tape around all of the windows. In doing so, we had to conquer our fear of heights. See Ashley crawling out on the scaffold, very afraid I might add.

We put this sticky blue tape on seven windows and then were put to work nailing stuff underneath the house.

Now don't ask me what the purpose of what this task was for (I think it might have just been to get us out of the way), but under the house we went, with our hammers a-swining away to nail things to some boards. I honestly hope the stability of the house is not dependent on that job, because if so, I'm not sure how long the house will last. We did the best we could though, while having a good laugh.

After lunch and finishing that task, we were given one last assignment: marshmallows! No not really, it was foaming insulation that very well could have been mistaken for melted sticky marshmallows. This stuff expanded and filled cracks and what not, and got EVERYWHERE! After becoming a sticky mess, we decided it was time to go home before we messed up anything. It was a great day and it was so awesome to participate in such a wonderful organization.

The director also got me to sign up for Women's Build at the Liberty House this past Saturday. Lowe's Hardware, a major sponsor of Habitat, gave 250 affiliates across the US, a $5,000 gift certificate for a women's build. That means that just women were invited to come out and build that day. There were a few men who were supervising, but women were the only ones who were ACTUALLY working. 55 women showed up for this event. What can 55 women accomplish from 9am-3pm? A LOT! By the end of the day, the entire outside of the house was painted, along with most of the inside. The crew I was in was able to lay laminate flooring in an entire room, while other rooms also had crews putting in some flooring. Electrical work was completed, and there was even an elderly woman there who swept floors and peeled stickers off windows. It was an amazing experience to see so many women come out to help! Not to mention the elderly women whom I just mentioned who touched my heart with her willingness to help. We made huge progress on that house and I became professional at laying laminate, even though I injured myself at least three different incidents that day.

After a man came in to try and "help", and ended up breaking what we had been working on, this sign became established.