Mountainside Parish “Adopts A Day” for Habitat for Humanity

While others were shopping, wrapping, baking, decorating, entertaining or traveling in preparation for Christmas, 10 hearty volunteers from Mountainside’s Parish of Our Lady of Lourdes picked up hammers & shovels to help build a home in Plainfield. 

On Saturday, Dec. 10th, 2011, ten Mountainside youth, women & men, ranging in age from 16 to 50+, volunteered their time & energy toward building a home for Habitat for Humanity. 

As part of the Greater Plainfield Habitat for Humanity’s “Adopt a Day” program, the parish community of Our Lady of Lourdes in Mountainside raised more than the $2500 required to sponsor this “Adopt A Day”.  With that sponsorship, the Parish was able to send 10 volunteers to build - and build they did! 

At any given time during the very chilly December day, one witnessed 3 young men digging holes, mixing concrete and filling footings for the front porch.  Toward the back of the 2-story house, 3 men were installing siding on the detached garage while the ladies were constructing decking at the back door. 

The construction site was a beehive of activity until around noon when a group of Girl Scouts from Mountainside arrived with lunch for the volunteer crew.  Once fortified with sandwiches and cookies, the volunteers continued their work until the volunteer work supervisor called it a day.

Habitat for Humanity is one of the largest home builders in the United States.  Since its founding, Habitat has built, rehabilitated, repaired or improved more than 500,000 houses worldwide, providing simple, decent and affordable shelter for more than 2.5 million people.  Homes are built "in partnership" by the homeowner families and volunteers.  Each homeowner family must contribute 400 hours of sweat equity in the building of their home.  Habitat provides a "hand up" not a "hand out".  The volunteers from Our Lady of Lourdes are honored to lend a hand toward making home ownership a reality for a worthy family.

For information on volunteering for Habitat for Humanity or to contribute, call (908)769-5292, or go to:  http://www.gphabitat.org/home