-HABITAT FOR HEROES-
Habitat for Humanity Riverside has always strived to assist our American military veterans and on Saturday the 8th of February we continued to show our appreciation by helping Dave a Navy veteran who served in the Vietnam War. Dave and his wife Susan, who own a floral shop, live in the city of Riverside with two of their sons. Dave has had heart problems and other health issues for several years, and is currently receiving disability payments due to his condition. Due to Dave’s health he needed open heart surgery and had trouble taking care of his yard. This problem escalated when the city of Riverside cited Dave many times for not maintaining the street front area of his home. Habitat for Humanity Riverside came together with the help of volunteers from a University of California Riverside’s UCR fraternity Sigma Delta Alpha as well as future Habitat homeowners working toward sweat equity. Usually on A Brush With Kindness projects volunteers paint an exterior of a home but on this ABWK project we cleaned up the landscaped the front yard, sides and backyard of Dave’s and Susan’s property.
The morning began with coffee and donuts supplied by Habitat staff and the safety introduction as well as Habitat’s mission statement. We then split the group into two : the Habitat families (working on Sweat Equity hours) stayed in the front yard and the UCR students worked in the backyard. Both groups weeded out the planters and plant beds, trimmed bushes and trees, mowed the lawns and collected the green waste in large trash bags.
Though the yard cleanup was strenuous work and the day was beginning to warm up, the enthusiastic volunteers continued diligently to work on the Dave’s and Susan’s yards. The day sure showed the strengths and gifts of our volunteers. Some were trimming trees with shears and others were pulling out those pesky weeds from the planters and no matter the task it was not too difficult for our volunteers to handle.
By days end, the front, side, and backyards looked remarkable; a drastic much needed change was carried out on that Saturday morning in Riverside. The work accomplished looked great, yet the feeling of a hard day’s work paled in comparison to knowing that we helped an American hero, a Vietnam veteran. Helping a veteran and his family definitely had a greater sense of joy. We could never truly pay back the commitment and sacrifice our American veterans deserve, but here at Habitat for Humanity Riverside we strive to aid veterans and their families anyway we can. Thank you for your service Dave.
